Historic Move: Deaf Zimbabwe Trust Commends Govern...

Historic Move: Deaf Zimbabwe Trust Commends Government on Disability Bill

Audrey Galawu

Deaf Zimbabwe Trust has applauded government for prioritising the Disability Bill in the First session of the 10th Parliament opened on Tuesday.

The Trust said the tabling of the bill will speed up the repeal of the Disabled Persons At [1992] which is outdated.

“Since the adoption of Constitution in 2013, DZT has been advocating for the alignment of the DPA to the constitution and the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of PWDs which Zimbabwe is a signatory to.

“The implementation of the National Disability Policy continues to be hampered by lack of an updated Act of Parliament. The lack of an updated Act has seen PWDs failing to enjoy rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

“We therefore call upon Parliament to gazette the Bill and for PWDs, families and all stakeholders to be ready to participate in the processes to ensure the enactment of the Bill into law,” DZT said.

The Disability Reform Coalition has noted with concern that People With Disabilities still face various challenges during the election period.

Speaking to Zim Now, Senator Annah Shiri representing PWDs said there is still room to have effective electoral reforms which are disability inclusive and explicit on disability issues.

“I do, however, understand that changes cannot be done in a day, but I would like to appreciate the efforts being made including the Persons with Disability Bill which will be reviewed in Parliament.

“We still have loopholes in terms of information dissemination during the election process. You find that in some places there were no sign language interpreters.

“I was really disappointed during the voter education process whereby some voter educators were even not aware about the elections for people with disabilities which were held on August 26.

“There is not enough education on disability elections and less engagement between PWDs, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and political parties.

“Legislators must scrutinise laws with the disability lense without being vague in their policies but to be more specific and explicit on the rights of PWDs.

“Although we recognise that it was a good thing to introduce quotas to give women and youth leadership positions, I would have also loved it if they included women and youth quotas for PWDs.

She, however, appreciated that there are some improvements and efforts being made to create an inclusive environment.

Senator Shiri said PWDs were involved in the elections as polling agents, observers and interpreters.

“We also recognise now that we have two representatives in the Parliament and we have Commissioners and Judges with disabilities which in itself is a move in the right direction.

“We no longer want to be taken back to the charity model but we want to be empowered,” she said.

Tariro Foundation of Zimbabwe Trust director, Godfrey Dzveta emphasised that they expect the legislators in the 10th Parliament to implement policies that are effective.

“I urge government to improve on the safety nets provided for PWDs to be more consistent. You will find that the assistance given to PWDs sometimes is given for about 3-4 months but we have someone taking medicines every day. It does not show priority and genuine concern,” he said.

The NDP was introduced in 2021 with the aim of addressing the marginalisation and discrimination experienced by PWDs and their families.