President John Dramani Mahama has announced that his government intends to import rechargeable electric wheelchairs for persons with disabilities in Ghana. He described the move as a pilot project aimed at making it easier for people with disabilities to move around, according to the Ghana News Agency.
The president said the wheelchairs, once they arrive, would be placed in the care of the National Council on Disability. He made the announcement in Goaso during a Citizens' Engagement that closed his two-day Resetting Ghana Tour of the Ahafo Region, the Ghana News Agency reported.
Mahama said that if the pilot succeeds, the programme would be repeated every year.
Why it matters
Assistive devices such as wheelchairs shape how far a person with a disability can travel, work, study and take part in public life. Electric wheelchairs in particular reduce the physical effort required to move over long distances, which can widen access to schools, workplaces and health facilities.
The announcement also signals a shift in how disability support is framed. Mahama referred to a previous arrangement in which three per cent of the District Assemblies Common Fund was set aside for persons with disabilities — a funding channel that has been a long-standing feature of local government financing in Ghana. The wheelchair pilot, as described, would sit alongside that existing allocation rather than replace it.
Ghana's disability framework rests on the Persons With Disability Act, 2006, which was passed to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities. Mahama said the law would be amended as part of efforts to improve living conditions for this group. He did not, in the account carried by the Ghana News Agency, set out which provisions would change or when the amendment would be placed before Parliament.
Funding, distribution and the questions left open
The president's remarks did not include a budget figure for the wheelchair imports, a timeline for their arrival, or a number for how many units the pilot would cover. It is also not yet clear how the National Council on Disability would decide who receives the wheelchairs, or how maintenance and spare parts would be handled once the devices are in use.
Those details matter because electric wheelchairs depend on charging, batteries and servicing. A device that cannot be repaired locally can stop being useful quickly. The Ghana News Agency report does not say whether training, charging infrastructure or repair arrangements form part of the plan.
The three per cent share of the District Assemblies Common Fund mentioned by Mahama has been the main channel through which metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies support persons with disabilities. The president's comments placed the wheelchair initiative in the context of that existing support, though he did not say whether the new programme would draw on the same funding source or a separate one.
Health measures cited at the same event
Mahama used the Goaso engagement to restate health policies his government has implemented. He said the Free Primary Healthcare Programme was introduced to give people access to free primary care.
He also pointed to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, known as MahamaCares, which he said was set up to ease the burden created by the high cost of treating cancers and providing dialysis. The Ghana News Agency report did not include figures on enrolment, spending or patient numbers for either programme.
The Citizens' Engagement in Goaso was the final stop of the president's two-day tour of the Ahafo Region, part of a series he has called the Resetting Ghana Tour. Such engagements typically combine policy announcements with direct questions from residents, though the report did not describe other exchanges at the event.
What to watch
The next concrete steps would be a procurement notice, a budget line or a delivery schedule for the wheelchairs, along with a statement from the National Council on Disability on how distribution will work. Also worth watching is whether the government publishes a draft of the proposed amendment to the Persons With Disability Act, 2006, and what it would change.
