05 Feb 2019

Deputy district commissioner in Palapye, Mr Odiseng Moruti, says People Living with Disabilities (PWD) should be empowered so that they could play a role in the country’s development issues.

Mr Moruti said this when addressing People Living with Disabilities at a workshop organised by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Palapye district commissioners’ office recently. “In most cases, disabled people are left behind when it comes to issues of business and entrepreneurship,” he said.

Mr Moruti said regarding empowerment programmes, people living with disabilities were sidelined, noting that it was time to engage them in entrepreneurship programmes to enable them sustain their lives.

He said government had put in place programmes that could benefit PWDs such as establishment of special education classes in some schools.

“This is an effort put in place by government to empower PDWs so that they could be able sustain their lives,” he said.

The country’s population stood at around two million and out of this number, about 59 000 people were living with disabilities.

He said 17.5 per cent of these were youth with disabilities.

He said scarcity of jobs especially among the youth had also impacted negatively on PWDs.  Mr Moruti commended the ministry for organising the workshop to impart knowledge on the procedures to setup businesses and how to get financial assistance.

Meanwhile, Ms Mpho Lucas from the ministry echoed sentiments that PWDs had been left behind in business issues and empowerment programmes.

She said it was imperative that PWDs were given an opportunity to be empowered and play a role in the economy.

She said her organisation had held numerous empowerment programmes around the country to empower PWDs. ENDS