People with disabilities protest

Several persons with disabilities, on Tuesday , staged a peaceful demonstration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the current seat of the Liberian Presidency, to solicit President Sirleaf’s intervention in their abandonment by her regime. 

According to the Chairperson of the National Union of Organizations of the Disable or NUOD, Naomi B. Harris, complained of absolute isolation with no part on the part of people with disabilities to play in the government. “We have written President Sirleaf several times and to avail; as a result of our poverty-stricken conditions, many of our colleagues continue to be strangulated to death,” she said.

Madam Harris told this paper Tuesday that while they were still in the struggle to meet with the Liberian Leader to explain their plight and grievances, they would still continue their protest until their voices are heard.

She further noted that for the past three years, the government has not been able to capture the disabled community in the national budget – something she described as worrisome and discouraging.

“We have been trying to get to President Sirleaf’s office, but we are always blocked by those who work with her,“ Madam Harris noted. “We tried to meet Madam Sirleaf to discuss our status in society, but we are always denied as if we are not Liberians,” she claimed, adding that there has been no room created in President Sirleaf’s office for people with disabilities to serve as advisor, secretary, as well as office assistant, among others, noting that if these opportunities are not available to them, it makes them to lose hope in life.

By: Zee Roberts