The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has within the last two years supported 332 disabled persons with a total of over GH¢898.000.00.

It is part of the drive to aid them to become economically self-dependent.

Madam Juliana Abena Owusu, out-going Metropolitan Director of the Department of Social Welfare, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the beneficiaries received between GH¢500.00 and GH¢2,000.00.

The money came from the two per cent allocation of the assembly’s share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

She said it had made a tremendous difference in the lives of many of the people.

Some put what was given to them into businesses, and the returns had been good. Others utilized it to pay for their education and medical bills.

Madam Owusu underlined the need for regular releases of the fund to ensure that all those who qualified for assistance were covered.

She again appealed to the people to disregard superstition and misconceptions they often associated with disability.

The discrimination and stigmatization that tended to promote social exclusion and drive those with disabilities underground could not be continued – it must end, she added.

She called for the training of more social workers in the sign language to enable them better serve the deaf.