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Midlands Bureau
The National Council for Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) which has been operating without proper structures since 2005 conducted its first elections in more than 10 years at the weekend in Gweru with the new leadership pledging to hit the ground running in championing the cause of disabled persons.

The new president, Mrs Farai Chirera said they have confidence in the new administration under President Emmerson Mnangagwa adding that they will start fighting for equal opportunities for disabled persons at cell level.

“I am glad that as people living with disabilities, we now have a leadership in place and the people have put trust in me to lead the organisation and advocate for equal opportunities for people living with disabilities in Zimbabwe.

“President Mnangagwa is cognisant of our plight as a people and we are very confident that his new administration will do everything to make sure that we are recognised and afforded equal opportunities as a people,” she said.

Mrs Cherera said people living with disabilities were legging behind in many facets due to lack of leadership and it was time for the new leadership to push for their recognition and presence in societies.

She said people living with disabilities were being segregated especially in rural set ups a development that needed urgent attention.

She said disabled people were not being included in societal developmental projects and the new leadership will also tackle the issues.

“Before the elections, we had harrowing presentations on the situation on the ground regarding people living with disabilities especially in rural areas. This year, there is drought everywhere and we got information during presentations that people living with disabilities are not getting their fair share in terms of food distribution.

“The mentality is that disabled people cannot stand on their own, they are being taken care of which is not correct. These are some of the big challenges that are ahead of us,”

Mrs Cherera said they will be engaging traditional leaders to make sure that they also involve disabled people in community development and leadership.

“We will then take our cause further. As it stands, we only have two senators who are representing disabled persons at senior government level, we don’t have any representation in the house of assembly, it’s an anomaly which we want addressed and we will be advocating for that,” she said.

Other newly elected members for the NDPZ were Mr Edison Muleya vice president, (Development) from Bulawayo, Mrs Anna Shiri vice president (gender) from the Midlands province, Mr Chamunorwa Dube, treasurer (Bulawayo) and secretary General, Mr Leonard Marange again from Bulawayo.