Techiman, (Bono East), Nov. 18, GNA-Mr Emmanuel Gyan, the Bono Regional Chairman of the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), has praised the government for the six percent of job allocation reserved for the PwDs in the nation’s public employment sector.

He said the PwDs were also excited about the increment of their share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) as announced in the 2026 Budget Statement.

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minister of Finance, announced the packages for the PwDs when he presented the 2026 budget to Parliament on Thursday November 13, 2025.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Techiman, the Bono East regional capital, Mr Gyan said the provisions in the budget for the PwDs remained favourable, saying they anticipated its actualization with high expectations.

He said the present living conditions of many of the PwDs in the country were appalling, indicating that packages in the budget would greatly alleviate the plights and thereby enhance the socio-economic livelihoods of the PwDs.

He said with the increment of their share of the DACF, more PwDs could benefit from the fund and find something worth doing for their lives and thereby contribute their quota towards economic growth and progressive development.

Mr Gyan said he was highly optimistic that with little push, many of the PwDs would be empowered economically and to become financially independent.

Mr Kingsley Amankwah, a PwD also told the GNA that he was extremely happy that the government was sensitive to the plights of the PwDs in the country and called on the government to create more job opportunities for them.

He said it was not the intention of any PwDs to engage in begging, however, poor economic conditions had driven many of them to the street to engage in the practice and added that if they were given opportunities many of them could also engage in commercial farming to sustain their livelihoods.

In another interview, Mr John Baptist Ayiese, the Bono East Regional Chairman of the Disability Working Class, also commended the government for the provisions and urged the PwDs to leverage the provisions in the budget, find decent jobs and improve their living conditions.

He expressed concern that still some of the District Assembly did not recognize the group though it had large numbers and urged the assemblies to capture them in the disbursement of the DACF.

When contacted, Mr Francis Owusu Antwi, the Bono East Regional Minister, said the government remained committed to tackling the challenges confronting the PwDs in the country.

He promised that the PwDs in the region would witness remarkable improvement in their socio-economic livelihoods from 2026, reminding that the Election 2024 political party manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) identified several alternative livelihood empowerment programmes for the PwDs.

Mr Antwi advised the PwDs to also position themselves well to benefit from the government socio-economic intervention programmes and to better their living conditions.