A few days back, someone walked into Nkrumah and rode away with a bicycle belonging to Abbu Tenywa, the GRC of that great hall. Now for those who know that Honourable, you will agree with me that such an act is equivalent or grosser than walking into one’s house, cutting off his legs and going away leaving him in untold agony.
That, however, is a drop in an ocean of atrocities these brothers and sisters with disabilities face. Have a closer look at our study facilities. They speak volumes. One friend told me that she has missed many tests simply because the lecturer says,
“Tomorrow, come ready for the test. Venue, Level 4 CiT building.” Clearly, with no elevator and on her wheelchair she can never access. Look at the newly constructed walkways on campus, they are soo high and inaccessible to all on wheelchairs. We are clearly saying
“You don’t deserve to be here. Go away and leave us we who can walk to enjoy our university. Go away!!”
Yet, don’t they pay tuition?
Do we deserve better than them?
A brother who is visually impaired told me he has to purchase a brail machine at 1.5m and still has to obtain reams of paper each costing 200,000/.
Isn’t that where our ten thousand guild fee should be spent?
If the guild chose to purchase 20 brails, to me it would be More worth than Ten guild dinners or millions spent on snacks for GRC sessions. Our leadership has the capacity to lobby scholarships for these physically handicapped people but how many have you heard of?
They suffer prejudices on this hill of equality. They have not been helped to realise their full potentials. Take for instance
the just concluded Guild Presidential campaigns, none of the candidates showed in his/her manifesto that People With Disabilities were among their priorities… That’s how serious the sidelining is. No one gives a damn. And we call ourselves Great intellectuals in the World of Academia. It is time to act and be a voice to the silent oppressed. Let us be bothered by the injustice these friends are undergoing. *We are planning to strike because our IDs have been delayed, who has planned a strike because we have no Rumps on lecture rooms to ease access for PWDs?*
*So are our IDs more important than their education?!*
Think deeply and let us prioritise.
*ROY RUGUMAYO*
Voice OF THE SILENT MAJORITY.
