Invisible Yet Essential: The Struggle for Disability Rights in Ghana’s Democracy

Ghana is widely celebrated as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies. It has ratified major human rights treaties, enacted progressive legislation, and projected an image of inclusion. Yet, for persons with disabilities, the promise of equality remains largely aspirational.

Nearly two decades after the passage of the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715), and years after ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), systemic barriers continue to block meaningful participation in public life, education, and employment.

The problem is not the absence of laws—it is the failure to enforce them. In public buildings across the country, wheelchair users confront stairs without ramps, offices without elevators, and sanitation facilities that are inaccessible.

Courtrooms and municipal offices remain unreachable for many, and public transport is largely unsuitable for persons with mobility challenges. As one wheelchair user in Accra told Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG):

“I have missed important medical appointments and even meetings with local officials because there is no ramp. Every time, I feel like my voice does not matter.”

Exclusion is not a mere inconvenience—it is a form of disenfranchisement. When citizens cannot physically enter spaces of governance, participation becomes theoretical, and democracy narrows.

Education Without Access

Ghana has made commitments toward inclusive education, but gaps remain stark. Children with disabilities often attend schools lacking trained teachers, assistive learning materials, or communication accommodations. Deaf learners sit in classrooms without sign language interpretation, while students with mobility impairments struggle with inaccessible buildings.

A parent recounted to HRRG:

“My daughter loves school, but every day we climb stairs to her classroom. After months, she started refusing to go. She felt embarrassed in front of the other children.”

Enrolment numbers alone cannot signal equality. True inclusion demands meaningful participation and consistent investment. Without accessible education, intergenerational poverty deepens, and a whole cohort of children is set on a path of marginalization.

Employment and Economic Marginalization

The labour market mirrors the barriers found in education. Persons with disabilities face disproportionately high unemployment rates. Even qualified graduates encounter discrimination hidden behind logistical concerns or exaggerated cost fears. A visually impaired graduate shared with HRRG:

“I have the certificates and the skills, but during interviews, they see my white cane and suddenly I am ‘not fit.’ It is exhausting to prove I can do the work.”

Structural discrimination, not disability, restricts opportunity, leaving many economically sidelined despite potential contributions to the workforce.

Gendered Vulnerabilities and Invisible Abuse

Women and girls with disabilities are especially at risk of exploitation, violence, and systemic neglect. Those with psychosocial disabilities are sometimes confined in unregulated spiritual or healing centers.

One young woman explained:

“People assume I cannot make my own choices, so even decisions about my health and money are taken from me. It feels like I am invisible in my own life.”

Robust monitoring, oversight, and survivor-centered justice frameworks are urgently needed to protect the most vulnerable.

Climate and Disaster Exclusion

The challenges compound when climate change enters the equation. Flooding in coastal communities, extreme heat, and irregular rainfall disproportionately affect those with mobility, sensory, or communication limitations. Early warning systems often rely solely on audio alerts, leaving Deaf persons uninformed. Evacuation plans rarely consider wheelchair users or persons requiring assistive devices, and temporary shelters are often inaccessible.

In rural agricultural communities, climate shocks further deepen poverty for households already marginalized by disability. Without integrating persons with disabilities into local adaptation and disaster planning, Ghana risks creating a climate response that is neither equitable nor effective.

Media, Narrative Power, and Civic Voice

Media coverage frequently frames disability through charity appeals or “inspirational” stories. While well-intentioned, such narratives obscure systemic failures. As one Deaf advocate put it:

“I am not just ‘inspirational’ because I use sign language. I want the world to hear what we have to say about policy and rights, not just pity us.”

Persons with disabilities are rights-holders, not beneficiaries of sympathy. Media and public discourse must interrogate systemic inequality rather than personalize hardship.

Global Context, Local Consequences

Ghana’s struggle mirrors global patterns. Across the Global South, progressive disability legislation often exists alongside weak enforcement. Even in wealthier democracies, ableism persists in employment, digital access, and political participation. Countries that allocate resources, enforce compliance, and institutionalize accessibility standards see tangible change—those that do not, see rights remain rhetorical.

From Symbolism to Structural Accountability

Disability inclusion cannot be reduced to policy statements or commemorative events. It requires enforceable accessibility standards, dedicated budgets for inclusive education, workplace anti-discrimination monitoring, institutional oversight to prevent abuse, disability-inclusive media practices, and climate adaptation policies that account for all abilities. Most importantly, persons with disabilities must be centered in policymaking—as architects of reform, not symbolic representatives.

Silenced Twice: Civic Exclusion Meets Accessibility Barriers

In shrinking civic spaces, the stakes are higher. When press freedom is limited and marginalized voices are ignored, persons with disabilities risk being “silenced twice”—first by stigma, and second by systemic exclusion from media, policy, and public discourse.

Disability justice is democratic justice. As one activist emphasized:

“Our voices are not less important than anyone else’s. We just need spaces that let us speak and be heard.”

When infrastructure excludes, democracy narrows. When schools marginalize, development stalls. When media misrepresents, accountability weakens. Ghana has the legal framework and the global standards—but political will, enforcement, and sustained advocacy remain the missing links.

Until these gaps are addressed, disability rights will continue to test the integrity of Ghana’s democracy, exposing the distance between promises on paper and lived realities.

By Dr. Joseph Wemakor

The writer is a seasoned journalist, a human rights advocate and Founder & Executive Director of Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG)