The Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) has warned the self-acclaimed dancehall king, Shatta Wale, to apologize to all persons living with disabilities, most especially his colleague Stonebwoy, for using his disability to mock him.
According to the group, disability is not a curse, and making mockery of such individuals is punishable by law.
In a statement issued yesterday in Accra by the GSPD and signed by the National President, Mr. Matthew Annor Kodom, the organization said it had seen a viral video on social media where Shatta Wale mocked Stonebwoy using his disability.
In the said video, the dancehall musician said, “You are a bad person; that is why God made you a disabled person. You are a disabled person; don’t try and fight an able person.”
The GSPD took offense to such a statement, emphasizing the point that Shatta Wale meant that God made all persons with disabilities that way due to their bad nature.
“We want to remind Shatta Wale that a section of his own fans are persons with disabilities,” it said.
GSPD took exception to that statement and has called on Shatta Wale as a matter of urgency to retract the statement, remove the video from social media, and apologize to all persons with disabilities as well as Ghanaians.
The statement mentioned that Shatta Wale’s words were primitive and exhibited his irresponsible nature, and it re-echoed that being a person with a disability did not mean “you are cursed, or God is punishing you.”
Referencing the Disability Act 715, the GSPD said using a person’s disability to mock him or her or making derogatory remarks about a person’s disability is a punishable offense and charged Ghanaians to have empathy towards people in such conditions.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Joyceline Natally Cudjoe
