The Lived Experience of Disability Rights in Ghana: A Case Study from the Eastern Region

Abstract

This article analyses the struggle for disability rights in Ghana by offering a window into the lived experience of physically disabled Ghanaians in the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area of Ghana’s Eastern Region. Utilizing grassroots narratives of sixteen participants, the article focuses on the themes of financial and social support to illuminate the challenges facing disabled individuals in a peri-urban area of Southern Ghana. The analysis engages with the concept of Ubuntu, which focuses a lens on traditional African community as a natural and inherently good vehicle for social inclusion. Using the idea of community as a frame of reference, we present a brief historical overview, followed by data from sixteen interviews to explore the connection between socio-economic change, community dynamics and disability rights. We conclude by arguing that the data raises questions about the revival of traditional communal bonds as a solution to social exclusion produced by disability.