Lüderitz
Lüderitz recently commemorated the National Disability Day in //Kharas Region in !Nami#nus Constituency under the theme “New Government, New Beginning for People with Disabilities”.
More than 200 people with disabilities led by the Ministry of Defence Navy started the day with a march from Beira Market to Benguela Community Hall where the main event was celebrated.
The National Disability Day is an annual event to celebrate the achievements of the disability sector and people with disabilities, and to encourage communities to include people with disabilities in local activities.
Head of Department: Research and Development in the National Disability Council of Namibia Tjiueza Tjombumbi gave an overview of the disability day.
He said the National Disability Council of Namibia (NDCN) decided to annually host the National Disability Day on June 10.
He further recalled that it was on this day that Namibia’s first prime minister, Hage Geingob, launched the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities in 1999.
Tjombumbi, together with the late Gerson Mutendere with the support of others in the disability fraternity, successfully organised that day. He said the contributions of Martin Tjivera, Elia Shapwa, John Uheka, Alexia Manombe-Ncube, Tuulikki Nekundi, Nixon Munamava and many others at national level would never be forgotten.
Tjombumbi praised the national leaders who supported their cause. They made time to meet them and they did not put a middle person between people with disabilities and them, they met them in person and they fully understood the people with disabilities, he said.
People with disabilities comprise five per cent of Namibia’s population, he stated
Tjombumbi urged people with disabilities to organise themselves in groups to talk with one voice, to seek for capacity building programmes, and to be active in their politics.
Speaking at the same occasion, Deputy Minister in the Presidency Responsible for the Physically Challenged People Alexia Manombe-Ncube stressed that people with disabilities have been viewed as objects of pity and charity but now they are claiming their rights and place in society.
Manombe-Ncube said people with disabilities should enjoy their human rights and they should be viewed as subjects and not objects, in fact locate problems outside people with disabilities and address the manner in which various economic and social processes accommodate the diversity.
She said if people with disabilities are given a chance and opportunities as well as the necessary assistance such as reasonable accommodation, they could become productive members of the society and reach high level of self-actualisation with higher self-esteem.
She was delighted that this day also reminded people with disabilities of the unity, strength, dedication and commitment required for all people with disabilities to stand and advocate for their own rights to human dignity, equal rights, equal opportunities and equal aspirations in society.
“Indeed we people with disabilities deserve to be embraced, cherished and acknowledged for our unique disabilities,” she stressed.
Disabled Athlete and Olympic champion Johanna Benson and Warrant Officer Henry Coetzee from the Ministry of Defence were also there to celebrate the National Disability Day.