National budget should factor in people with disabilities: Mavima

Gweru (New Ziana) -The government should start allocating a portion of the National Budget to cater for the needs of people with disabilities, a senior official has said.

Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Larry Mavima said this during the official opening of the National Disability Expo in Gweru.

This year the Expo is running under the theme: “Disability mainstreaming and inclusion for a prosperous and empowered society which leaves no one behind.”

Mavima said people with disabilities should be given equal opportunities, hence the need to have a budget allocated for them starting next year.

He expressed concern at the failure to give preferential treatment to people with disabilities in certain areas, saying more should be done to cater for their wellbeing.

“Are we walking the talk? We should walk the talk and these are the things we should put in our Budget for 2022,” he said.

“This National Disability Expo must be an emancipation process for the realization of equal opportunities for all. This expo must be a platform for retrospection, self-reliance, resilience building and being proactive in bouncing back better in the face of adversity.

“Persons with disabilities must be supported to defy the odds and participate in national development alongside everyone in an inclusive society. Disability is not inability,” he added.

New Ziana