Graduates With Disabilities Petition Minority Leader Over Unemployment, Threaten Fresh Picketing

The Coalition of Unemployed Graduates with Disabilities has petitioned the Minority Leader of Parliament, Hon. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, demanding urgent and sustainable employment opportunities for qualified graduates with disabilities.

The coalition says its members are not seeking charity but are demanding what they describe as their fundamental right to work and contribute to Ghana’s development.

The petition, dated Wednesday, September 2, 2026, highlights the plight of tertiary-educated persons with disabilities who have obtained degrees in fields including Law, Administration, Education, Information Technology and other areas, but have remained unemployed for years.

According to the coalition, many of its members have invested their limited resources and energy in acquiring tertiary education, only to encounter systemic barriers when seeking employment.

The coalition said it issued a one-month ultimatum to the Government of Ghana on February 9, 2026, demanding a workable roadmap for the employment of graduates with disabilities.

It said the ultimatum has expired without what it considers a satisfactory and concrete government plan to address the situation.

The group argues that educating citizens and subsequently denying them opportunities to work and contribute to national development amounts to a waste of human capital and economic potential.

The coalition referenced the 2021 Population and Housing Census, stating that approximately 8% of Ghana’s population, representing more than 2.1 million people, live with a disability.

It further claimed that while Ghana’s national unemployment rate is around 13%, unemployment among persons with disabilities remains significantly higher.

The group also cited figures suggesting that only 27% of working-age persons with disabilities are employed, compared with more than 56% of persons without disabilities.

It said hundreds of qualified graduates with disabilities have remained unemployed for more than 10 years despite possessing the requisite qualifications.

The coalition said it has engaged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, but claimed that the engagements have not produced any substantially hopeful outcome.

It also recalled a series of demonstrations and picketing exercises, including a recent protest at the Jubilee House, where it said government representatives promised to absorb some of its members into the public sector.

According to the coalition, the promise led to a temporary suspension of its protest after assurances that its leadership would meet President John Dramani Mahama within the following week to find a solution.

However, the group said its subsequent attempts to contact the senior presidential staffer who received its petition on behalf of the government have gone unanswered.

The coalition also raised concerns about recruitment practices in the public sector, alleging that qualified persons with disabilities are frequently overlooked because of misconceptions about their abilities.

It cited the recent Ghana Education Service recruitment exercise, during which about 7,000 teachers were recruited.

According to the coalition, it worked with the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations to submit a list of 200 qualified potential teachers with disabilities, but claimed that none of the members on the list was selected.

The group argued that this situation demonstrates the challenges faced by qualified PWDs despite existing legal protections.

The petition anchored the coalition’s demands on Ghana’s legal and international obligations, including Article 29 of the 1992 Constitution, which provides protections for persons with disabilities.

It also cited the Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715), which provides a legal framework for the rights of persons with disabilities, including provisions relating to employment support and incentives for employers.

The coalition further referenced the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which Ghana ratified in 2012.

It specifically cited Article 27, which recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others in an open, inclusive and accessible labour market.

Key demands

The coalition is asking the Minority Leader to intervene and compel government to provide an immediate roadmap for addressing the backlog of unemployed tertiary-educated persons with disabilities.

Among its demands are:

• The immediate recruitment of the current backlog of approximately 400 unemployed tertiary-educated persons with disabilities into the public sector.
• Full implementation of employment quotas for persons with disabilities in government institutions.
• Incentives for private-sector employers who recruit persons with disabilities.
• An end to discriminatory and systemic barriers in recruitment processes.
• The issuance of an Executive Instrument or policy directive reserving a specific percentage of recruitment opportunities in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for qualified persons with disabilities.
• A concrete and actionable government employment plan to address the unemployment crisis among graduates with disabilities.

The coalition stressed that its objective is not welfare or charity but access to dignified employment and the opportunity to earn an income through its members’ skills and qualifications.

The coalition has also warned that it will resume demonstrations if the government fails to take concrete action.

It said that if its engagement through the Minority Leader does not produce positive results, members will embark on another picketing exercise after September 15, 2026.

The group warned that the planned protest will not be suspended until its demands are addressed, regardless of assurances that may be offered by government.

“Our disability is not an inability,” the coalition said, arguing that persons with disabilities possess perspectives and skills capable of enriching Ghana’s workforce.

The petition was signed by Gilbert Boateng Agyare, Convener, and Felix Baah, President of the Coalition.

The coalition provided contact numbers for its leadership, with Gilbert Boateng Agyare reachable on 0244061940 and Felix Baah on 0544295020.

The Coalition of Unemployed Graduates with Disabilities is scheduled to hold a press conference with Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin on Thursday, September 3, 2026, following the presentation of the petition.

The engagement is expected to provide an opportunity for the coalition to further explain its concerns and for the Minority Leader to respond to their demands.