“Stop The Stigma”– Albinos Beg
The
Executive Director for Ghana Association of Persons living with Albinism, Mr.
Newton Kwabla Katesku has called on government and the public to help stop
stigmatisation against Albinos and people with disability.
According to
him, they are being discriminated against in different forms which has had
negative effect on them. He said those who stigmatise against them must be dealt with
since the laws of the country are not made to defend sections of the citizenry.
He said this in an interview with Kwabena Obeng Akrofi on Ark in the morning on 13th June which has been proclaimed as International
Albinism Awareness Day. This is the first year Ghanaians living with
Albinism are celebrating this day as a group.
It is a day
proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) to spread information about albinism and
to avoid mobbing and discrimination of albinos.
The
International Albinism Awareness Day aims to increase the global attention to
human rights.
Albinism is
a pigmentary abnormality which leads to an extremely light hair skin and eye
colour. This
year’s theme is “Shining Our Light to the World.”
Mr. Katesku said dealing with discrimination
against albinos does not mean allowing politicians to control their lives
rather it's time they all join hands work towards it to achieve its aim.
He bemoaned the notion that albinos are means of
money making when used as rituals saying people with such mentality must be do
away with it since it is not good.
He
stressed that if people with albinism are unique and their body parts are means
of getting money, their parents will not be lavishing in poverty.
Mr. Katesku has appealed to the public to work
hard to earn a living instead of focusing on them to be used for rituals.
By:Vivianna
Mensah/Ghana/107.1 Ark FM
(A trainee under Penplusbytes' Deliver! Project media training on reporting GESI/PWDs issues)
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