Over the weekend thousands of Ghanaians converged at the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry to witness the official unveil of an audacious plan by the church to build an Ability village on a 2,000 acre land size in Ningo in the Greater Accra Region.
The unveil comes three years after the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry, Reverend Steve Mensah and partners launched its flagship program Dubbed Day of Help in Accra.
The Day of Help program over the years has seen the church and its partners providing Persons Living with Disability some support to get them going. On the 27th of August 2016, Persons Living with Disability converged at the independence square to receive Free Medical Care, Food Supplies, Clothes, Home supplies and many more. A similar event was held at the same venue in 2017, and in 2018 the Day of Help program was organized in Tamale in the Northern region.
It has been the long standing dream of Rev Steve Mensah to expand the help given to Persons Living with Disability to a more strategic and long term solution.
This led to Reverend Steve Mensah envisioning a community where Persons living with Disability get to live in decency among others.
The launch of CEM Ability Village over the weekend has been in the offing of CEM for the past three years and those who attended the event were excited and marveled about the size and scale of the dream and what it will take to achieve it.
The First phase of the CEM Ability village is estimated at $85 million and will be a community which provides Persons with Disability with Free and/or heavily subsidized medical care, education, vocational training, housing and many more.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Ghana National Council for Persons Living with Disability, Mr Yaw Debrah was full of praise for Reverend Steve and the church and indicated the commitment of the council to support the project through to its execution. He called on well meaning Ghanaians to reach out to support persons with disability and the project.
On her part, Ms Farida Bedwei a Ghanaian software engineer and co-founder of Logiciel, a fin-tech company in Ghana charged the state to stop ticking boxes in its approach to dealing with issues relating to Persons with Disability. She stresses the point that Persons living with Disability have a lot to offer if the right environment is created. Getting this right will take more than understanding the plight of PWDs, it will require the financial and non-financial support of both the state and the private sector.
The occasion was also graced by the Minister of State in charge of Gender, Children and Social protection, the Honourable Cynthia Morrison. The minister who doubles as the Member of Parliament for the Agona West Constituency charged parents dealing with Children living with Disability to be guided by faith knowing that a lot can be done by each individual despite the challenges. She stated government’s commitment to ensuring that persons living with Disability are given the needed help to enable them succeed in life.
Taking his turn at the Program, The former president of the Republic of Ghana. H.E John Mahama encouraged citizens to support Persons with Disability. He indicated that Persons living with disability are to be supported and not pitied. He stated his willingness to support the idea and the vision of Reverend Steve Mensah of creating a modern community for Persons with Disability.
As part of his message for the unveil, Reverend Steve Mensah re-stated his commitment to supporting Persons living with disability. In an emotionally delivered message, he charged the church and the government to ensure that no one was left behind. He used the occasion to invite the investor community, private companies, charities, NGOs to join hands with CEM to ensure that the vision sees the light of day.
Other invited guest who graced the occasion include:
- Mr. Benjamin Amenumey, MD of UMB,
- Mr. James Orraca-Tettey, Business Head SME Fidelity Bank,
- Mrs. Nelly Abotchie, UMB Director of Corporate,
- Madam Innocentia Dogbe, Head of Credit Cards & Country Champion of Diversity Inclusion-Standard Chartered Bank,
- Madam Emefa Agyonyo, SSNIT,
- Mr. George Osei-Ware, Manager MASLOC CEO Secretariat,
- Mr. Yaw Antwi-Dadzie, BOST Government Relations Manager,
- Mr. Senyo Hosi, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution Company (CBOD)
