Dear Janet,
Reading your extremely moving report/analysis of the oppression of
disabled people in North Korea which largely goes unreported, as a
disabled person, I feel so hopelessly powerless and really wonder
whether as disabled people, we are just on our own and that our rights
(if ever we have any) are really human rights worth talking about; or
at best, we should just resign to the 'fact' that we are at the
disposal of the non-disabled society and they can use their discretion
regarding how they treat us. Below, please read an open letter written
by my fellow activist here in Zimbabwe on the 3rd of December.
DISABILITY IN ZIMBABWE; THE CASE OF THE STRAY DOG

Dear comrades, compatriots and all those who wish us well:

Once again, today, the whole world reflects on challenges and
successes of persons with disabilities. Progressive nations have state
organised commemorations. This year, this day is being celebrated
under the theme,  “Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive
society and development for all”. It is with a heavy heart that here
in zimbabwe, we mark this day for the second time with visible state
inactivity. As an activist, this exposition is my own way of marking
the day.

In its manifesto, the ZANU PF  party which went on to win the
elections and formed the current government identified respect for
persons with disabilities as one of the “goals of the people”. It is
necessary that I quote for you from page 28 of the manifesto:
Zimbabweans recognise the challenges faced by their compatriots with
disabilities. Against this backdrop, it is a goal of the people to
ensure that persons with disabilities are fully respected and assisted
by the Zanu PF Government to realise
their full mental and physical potential in order for them to be
self-reliant so as to participate fully in the national economy
and to be able to live with their families and pursue their hopes and
dreams while being protected from all forms of abuse or exploitation.”
 What is clear in this is that notwithstanding the welfarist approach
apparent in words such as “assisted”, the quoted statement is more
inclined towards disability rights and inclusion. In addition, on the
23rd of September 2013, the government ratified the UN convention on
the rights of persons with disabilities. This was a ray of hope for
persons with disabilities who thought that this would be followed by
tangible state activities.

Before proceeding, a flashback will do. Last year, the inclusive
government did not even care about the international day of persons
with disabilities. We were told that the ministry under which
disability fell was held by the MDC and that Zanu PF would not have
allowed this to happen. We were in the trenches fighting other battles
and we let it go. This time, our revolutionary party’s government has
marked all other events one can think of. Talk of the breast feeding
day, the world aids day, the international day of women, refugees etc
etc yet it has not even said a word on disability. This is very sad
indeed especially given that this is a government which came as a
result of a protracted war of liberation which left so many
Zimbabweans disabled. This behaviour is characteristic of a government
which has left disability work in the hands of charity and the major
task which activists and persons with disabilities have is that of
ensuring that the government is held accountable and walk the talk on
disability from a rights based approach. How can a government which
ratified the UN  convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
fail to honour the UN day of persons with disabilities? Is this not
just like a man who pays the bride price and  has a white wedding but
refuses to stay with the woman as his wife? What a shame!

As we commemorate this day, lets never lose sight of the fact that we
have a government with a well documented history of non-compliance
with disability legislation. A case in point is that of section 3 of
the Disabled Persons Act, though antiquated, this act provides in the
section under discussion for the  establishment of the office of “the
director for disabled persons affairs”. By implication, there must be
a department of disabled persons affairs. Since this act was
promulgated in 1992, this office has never been occupied and the
department never created. Recently, the ministry of labour and social
welfare, which is tasked with the administration of this act has been
restructured and there is now a new director of child rights who has
three deputy directors. Yet disability remains under the
over-stretched and under-staffed department of social welfare. For the
past twenty-one years, the government is refusing to create this
department. When one critically looks at this,  it is clear that there
is misdirected effort because children’s issues are dealt with in the
ministry of education, health and child care as well as ministry of
youth. If ever there was a department which needed to be created
urgently in that ministry, it is the department of disabled persons
affairs.

Still on the legal developments, though poorly written, the new
constitution provides a number of opportunities for persons with
disabilities. This include the official status of sign language, the
obligation on the part of the state to provide information to persons
with disabilities in accessible formats, the inclusion of several
rights such as the right to state funded education for persons with
disabilities in the bill of rights inter-alia. Furthermore, as
highlighted above, the government ratified without reservations both
the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and the
optional protocol. It is imperative upon all who are in the trenches
to fight for the domestication of the convention and the harmonisation
of our laws with the disability rights framework established in terms
of the convention.

One of the most tired yet true statements in the world of academia is
that there is a co-relation between disability and poverty. As we mark
this day, activists must come to a point of a painful admition that we
have not directed our efforts well towards poverty alleviation.
Education and empowerment of persons with disabilities remain very law
on the agenda of both the state and public players. Indeed project
proposals have been written and organisations have been funded in the
name of disability mainstreaming yet the actual beneficiaries have
never got anything other than being called to workshops where they are
filmed and photographed for more donor funding. In other instances
where money has been received for disability inclusion, persons with
disabilities are taken on board as window dressers and not decision
makers.

My father is a Mbira player. I particularly remember one song he would
play. “imbwa yangu machena, yaenda yega isina munhu mugwara”  This is
a cry of a hunter whose dog has just gone alone without it’s owner. I
am truly convinced that our government is like that dog as far as
disability issues are concerned and as disability rights activists and
all other concerned citizens, we can not continue watching this dog
not only going astray but also rabid. Lets put a stop to the situation
where disability work is directed by gate keepers of charity and make
our government more disability rights oriented. If they have not made
us part of systems, lets bulldoze our way into the system. As Ed
Roberts put it, “if you snooze you lose”. Lets start demanding for
action and action now. I wish you a happy international day of persons
with disabilities.

Yours truly Mukoma A the activist
Regards,
Kudzai Shava

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