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Gambia: Disability Groups Leader Expresses Dismay

Following the recent mass sentencing of 21 beggars by magistrate B.Y. Camara of the Bundung Magistrates' Court last week, a leader of the federation of the various disability groups in the country has expressed his great dismay at the incident.

The arrest of the beggars, most of whom are with physical disabilities have sparked off deep concern among the disabled people. Sources say that some disabled people and their organizations are currently working on modalities to affect a review of the court's ruling against their brethren.

According to Mohammed Kora, President of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled (GFD), letters have already been sent to the relevant authorities to query the court's decision. Mr. Kora expressed the belief that the begging syndrome among disabled people could be eradicated if the authorities give them logistical support to get disabled communities trained on various skills with a view to opening up alternative employment for them. He said most disabled people are begging because they have no other way of earning their living.

"At our level, disabled people's organizations like the Gambia Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (GADHOH), we are already embarking on rehabilitation and skills training for the disabled. So we expect stakeholders including the authorities to come on board to support these kinds of initiatives so that beggars can get skills as alternative means of employment," the GFD boss pointed out.

He said further action would be taken by GFD to challenge the ruling because, as he put it, beggars are engaged in begging to earn their living. But they have recently been multiplying in numbers as more and more come in from other countries in the sub-region and are considered traffic nuisance by many motorists.