Savelugu: The Savelugu Municipal Assembly in the Northern Region has provided livelihood, healthcare, educational, and agricultural support to 238 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in the first half of 2026. The beneficiaries received various forms of assistance under the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) allocation for PwDs following the government's decision to increase the allocation from three per cent to five per cent.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Alhassan Fuseini, the Municipal Chief Executive for Savelugu, announced this during a visit to the municipality by Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection. The visit was to monitor the ongoing Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) reassessment and onboarding exercise in the municipality.
Mr. Fuseini shared that the Assembly, through the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, supported 136 PwDs in the first quarter of the year and another 102 beneficiaries in the second quarter, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 238. He noted that the municipality currently had more than 1,300 registered PwDs, and the increased DACF allocation had significantly enhanced the Assembly's capacity to extend assistance to more vulnerable residents.
The support package included deep freezers, sewing machines, wheelchairs, small ruminants, start-up capital, educational assistance, medical support, and farming inputs to promote self-reliance among beneficiaries. Mr. Fuseini elaborated that 44 physically challenged persons received GHS3,000 each as business start-up or expansion capital, while 18 beneficiaries were provided with deep freezers and GHS1,000 each as seed capital to establish income-generating ventures.
Five physically challenged persons also received sewing machines and GHS1,000 each, while 13 persons living with epilepsy were supported with medication for six months and GHS2,000 each to help meet their healthcare needs. Additionally, the Assembly supported three physically challenged persons with wheelchairs and GHS2,000 each to establish businesses, while another beneficiary with hearing impairment received GHS3,819 to pay admission fees to pursue further studies.
Mr. Fuseini added that GHS11,500 was provided to support some persons in critical health conditions to access treatment at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Disability associations in the municipality also benefited from financial assistance to undertake sporting and capacity-building activities. Furthermore, 20 Persons with Disabilities, comprising 10 men and 10 women, received fertilisers, insecticides, and herbicides to support rice and maize cultivation, improve productivity, and enhance household incomes.
Dr. Lartey commended the Savelugu Municipal Assembly for its commitment to promoting the welfare of Persons with Disabilities and ensuring that resources allocated for their benefit were used to improve their livelihoods. She emphasized the government's commitment to strengthening social protection programmes to empower vulnerable people through sustainable economic opportunities rather than temporary relief, noting that such interventions were critical to reducing poverty and promoting inclusive development.
Dr. Lartey urged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in the utilisation of the DACF allocation to Persons with Disabilities to maximize its impact on beneficiaries and improve their quality of life. During her visit, Dr. Lartey also paid a courtesy call on Yoo-Naa Abdulai Yakubu, Paramount Chief of Yoo (Savelugu) Traditional Area, at his palace in Savelugu, to brief him about her visit to the region. The Yoo-Naa Yakubu called for fairness and transparency in the ongoing LEAP reassessment and onboarding exercise, emphasizing that the exercise should target the right beneficiaries to enhance the credibility of the programme and ensure that public resources reach the most vulnerable members of society.