Barriers to the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Rural Local Governance: The Case of Bikita District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The paper was qualitative and inductive through the interpretivist’s paradigm. It sought to access the barriers to the participation of persons with disabilities (PwDs) in Bikita’s local governance in Zimbabwe. Data collection was through key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FDGs) and observations. The KIIs targeted the chiefs, headman, councillors, state actors and Zimbabwe’s Association for the Visually Handicapped whereas the FDGs included the disabled and the non-disabled. The sampling was purposive. The human rights-based approach as espoused in the critical disability theory framed the empirical. The paper unearthed that Bikita Rural District Council structures were not disability inclusive. PwDs were marginalised in local governance/development processes. This led to higher incidences of abject poverty. The paper charged that the lack of inclusivity is in itself discriminatory. It argued that the drive towards inclusivity should include inter alia disability-mainstreaming, provision of disability-accessible information and disability awareness campaigns.