daniel chigunwe
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
The launch of the Parliamentary Caucus on Persons with Disabilities is an important step in ensuring the fulfilment of Government’s all-encompassing development stance, National Assembly Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda said yesterday.
He was speaking during the launch of the voluntary organisation made up of legislators from both the National Assembly and Senate.
The caucus is chaired by Goromonzi West legislator, Cde Beatrice Nyamupinga.
Adv Mudenda hailed the formation of the group.
“The midwifery of this caucus today, significantly espouses the path towards a society founded upon the principles of inclusivity and equity of leaving no one and no place behind,” he said.
“As representatives of the people, it is your solemn responsibility as parliamentarians to ensure that the voices and needs of all citizens, including those with disabilities, are heard and addressed positively.
“For that reason, this Caucus should be more than just a group of like-minded parliamentarians. Like other caucuses, it has to be a powerful force for mindset change, a beacon of hope for the millions of people with disabilities in our country.”
Adv Mudenda said through this parliamentary lobby and advocacy collective, the opportunity should arise to amplify the perspectives and experiences of people with disabilities so that they can abundantly actualise their aspirations in all sectors of the economy “without any apology at all”.
The objectives of the Caucus include advocating for legislation on disability mainstreaming across all sectors of the economy, championing matters affecting persons with disabilities, promoting norms and standards that promote effective participation of persons with disabilities, lobbying for budgetary allocations for the procurement of their assistive devices, enhancing the organisational capacity for persons with disabilities for them to have unity of purpose and to create employment opportunities and economic empowerment for them through vocational skills capacitation.
Adv Mudenda said Government recognises the plight of persons with disabilities as seen through the crafting of the National Disability Policy in 2021 and the ongoing debate in Parliament of the Persons with Disabilities Bill.
Cde Nyamupinga said the caucus would focus on improving the lives of people with disabilities.
“First and foremost, we want to improve the lives and livelihoods of people with disabilities. We want to work on this Bill before Parliament because we went for public hearings and a lot was said by persons with disabilities themselves and persons who look after people with disabilities and organisations that represent people with disabilities,” she said.
Cde Nyamupinga said the Caucus would also engage Government for free distribution of assistive devices for people with disabilities like wheelchairs and hearing aids, among others, and renovations of public buildings to make them accessible to people with disabilities.
Representative of persons with disabilities in the Senate, Senator Anna Shiri commended legislators for the creation of the Caucus.
“This is yet another true testament of Zimbabwe’s mantra of ‘leaving no place and no one behind’, where one of Zimbabwe’s key pillars in entrenching democracy has walked the talk by ensuring that the aspirations and desires of persons with disabilities in as far as formulating sound, realistic and concrete laws are made possible through the introduction of the Caucus.
“This entails that the future for the disability rights movement is not only bright but auspicious,” she said.
Sen Phiri added that Zimbabwe has always been a trendsetter when it comes to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities as evidenced by the enactment of progressive laws and different constitutional provisions.
Persons with disabilities that attended the launch welcomed its formation saying it was a step in the right direction.
Said Mr Tapiwa Tsikai of This Ability Hub: “This is a positive step in the right direction and we are hoping that it is going to lead to a transformed life for a person with disability in the street not only in Harare and major cities, but in the rural areas where the majority of people with disabilities are.”
He added that the Caucus should lobby for empowerment of persons with disabilities so that they can look after themselves and not be charity cases.
Popular musician, Chipo Muchegwa said: “I am happy with the launch today (yesterday) and with the involvement of Parliament, our plight as artistes will be addressed.”
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