In fact, begging for alms is a criminal act, and whoever engages in it must be arrested. If the giver and taker of a bribe are both aiding and abetting corruption, and so are guilty before the law, then the giver and taker of alms are equally guilty before the law, and both must be arrested when caught,’ he argues.
Mr. Agbetsomedo explained that giving alms to disabled persons discouraged them to put into good use their endowed skills, which could make them earn a living for themselves and their families.
He therefore appealed to persons who give alms to PWDs on the streets to shun the act, as their continuous giving would encourage more persons with disabilities to go into the venture.
‘There are already a large number of my colleagues on the streets, and attempts to get them off are proving difficult, because people like you are making the begging for alms attractive for them,’ he bemoaned.
In an interview with The Chronicle at the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) last Monday, after a short presentation to some 43 PWDs by the Assembly, Mr. Agbetsomedo said he had over the years wondered why his colleagues on the streets who beg for alms would continue to burden people, when they could venture into menial, but profitable, businesses like ice water selling among others.
Sporting a beautiful suit and speaking fluent English, the sightless PWD Chairman told the paper that he was into ice cream business, and had some workers he pays, ‘because my brother, I did not want to be a stigma to my family and country.’
He said he does not see himself as a disabled person, ‘because my mind does not tell me so. As long as I work to earn a living and to the extent that I have workers I pay, why should I relegate myself and let a deficiency weigh me down?’
Everybody, he noted, must hate to be a liability to their family, ‘and like the able persons aiming to live good and enjoy life, we, the PWDs, can equally do same, if we will search deep into ourselves and discover the gift in us.’
He called on the police not to deal kindly with the indiscipline being exhibited by some lazy PWDs, who have found the streets and traffic junctions as money making avenues, where they disgracefully carry their babies as bait to win the sympathy of the public.
The ASHMA gave Mr. Agbetsomedo a deep freezer and a cash sum of GH¢1,700 from the Assembly’s District Common Fund to expand his ice cream business, to enable him employ more workers.
He was of the view that his colleagues, who had benefited from the Common Fund, could also employ workers when they realise that their businesses are expanding.
Mr. Michael Agbetsomedo was thankful to the Assembly for allocating PWDs an office at the Ashaiman Metro Mass Transit Terminal.
The Assembly, he continued, had donated some plastic chairs to his outfit for their programmes, and was additionally paying the bills of some pupils with disabilities.
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