THEY HAVE RIGHTS TOO

Sir,

I do not know where to start but please allow me to share the plight of people living with disabilities.
I am aware that such people face many challenges to a point where they feel there is just no life for them. It is like society has not accepted that such people were also born of the image of God and deserve all the love.

As a kingdom that is known to be peaceful, it is important to understand that people living with disabilities also have rights like the rest of us. They therefore have to stand up whenever they feel that their rights are being disrespected.

 People living with disabilities deserve to be given all opportunities available so that they can also live better lives.
They should not be abandoned because they also have the ability to make a contribution in society.

The Kingdom of Eswatini needs to create career opportunities for such people because they also have qualifications.
Politicians should stick to the promises that they make whenever their campaign for seats in Parliament.

Yes I know that during the campaigning phase, candidates make promises that they would take care of people living with disabilities but once they make it to Parliament, things change.
We may try to hide it but it is a fact that people living with disabilities are still excluded from mainstream society and still have difficulty accessing fundamental rights.

Even when legislations and policies are implemented to protect their rights, there are still barriers which prevent them from being afforded the same treatment and service due to them.

The Constitution of Eswatini states clearly that we are all equal but in reality, some people are treated as second class citizens and these include those living with disabilities.

About five per cent of the country’s population consist of those living with disabilities but a large number of them are not considered for good jobs, despite that we have laws that provide for that.

Those who are lucky to be employed are given minimal jobs that they are over qualified for, while their peers with less qualifications get better jobs and earn meaningful salaries. This is not fair.

Some employers still treat people living with disabilities as a burden when they are supposed to offer them reasonable working conditions.
People living with disabilities have to financially compete in a situation where there’s no equity so they struggle to get loans.
As a country we need to embrace and make them feel loved and respected.

Dlamini S

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