Dilapidated facility risks lives of PWDs in Kabale

Some of the PWDs and their children in front of the dilapidated facility in Kabale Municipality. PHOTO/ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
- The facility was established during the colonial days to offer various skills to the people in the area.
A dilapidated building belonging to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is threatening the lives of people with disabilities (PWDs) in Kabale District.
Kikungiri Rural Training Centre, located in Central Cell, Kirigime Ward in Southern Division, Kabale Municipality, is in a sorry state, with a leaking roof, broken windows and cracked walls.
The facility was established during the colonial days to offer skills in leadership, cooperative formation, nutrition, literacy and numeracy to the people in the area.
In 1994, the government then handed it over to the PWDs.
The chairperson for Kikungiri Unity for the Physically Handicapped Association, Ms Mary Tindibasa, and the councillor for PWDs at the municipal council, Mr Elinathan Kanyaruju, said ever since they occupied the facility, it has never been renovated
“We appeal to the Ministry of Gender to renovate this facility or they grant us ownership powers because every well-wisher that comes to help us demands that we prove ownership of the facility,” Ms Tindibasa said.
“Our lives and those of our children and other dependants are at risk since this dilapidated facility has developed cracks,” she added.
She said those at risk include about 50 PWDs alongside their children and other dependants.
Ms Tindibasa also appealed to the government to consider extending hydroelectric power and piped water at discounted rates to the facility.
“We depend on money generated from the sale of handicrafts that we make.
Other PWDs are involved in selling charcoal and a few household items. If we can have this building rehabilitated, we can get empowered to invest in value addition to generate money to pay school fees for our children,” Ms Tindibasa said.
The mayor, Mr Sentaro Byamugisha, said it is the central government’s role to rehabilitate the facility.
“Sometime back, we budgeted Shs17m for the rehabilitation of the housing facility but due to ownership issues, we stopped the process because we established that the facility belongs to the Ministry of Gender and renovating it without its approval has legal implications,” Mr Byamugisha said.
The Commissioner for Community Development and Literacy at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Mr Everest Tumwesigye, said he is not aware that PWDs are occupying the facility. “Kikungiri Rural Training Centre for Kigezi
Sub-region was established during the colonial days to provide skills in leadership, literacy and numeracy, nutrition and training in cooperative development,” he said.
“I don’t know how the PWDs came to this facility and I imagine that their stay in that facility is illegal since it was not set up for them. The district leadership should take the upper hand and liaise with the Ministry of Gender to design the best way forward about its use,” Mr Tumwesigye added.
However, he said plans are underway to reclaim all the facilities under the Ministry of Gender for use.
Background
The report by the Equal Opportunities Commission (2017/18) said persons with disabilities in the country experience tremendous barriers in accessing social services and are increasingly more vulnerable to disease and poverty.