Abstract:
Disability ordinarily connotes negativity. The reviewed literature showed that
persons with disability experience discrimination and exclusion. Yet, there are
persons with disability who have defied both their disability and its social
construction into leadership positions whose narratives remain less
documented. Most studies on disability had been done with a little historical
cultural perspective. This work sought to explore the construction of disability
along leadership of two illustrative cultures in Ghana and document the life
stories of the persons with disability in leadership. The study also assessed the
PWD Act, 2006 (Act 715). The Life Course, Modernisation, Social
Constructionist and Human Capabilities theories undergirded the study. Critical
ethnography, narrative and document review designs from a qualitative research
approach were adopted for the study. A purposive sampling procedure was used
to select 11 participants for the study. Indepth-interviews and key informant
interview guides were employed as methods and instruments respectively for
data collection. Data were analysed by content (critical discourse) analysis, life
and document reviews. The study found; ambivalent cultural constructions of
disability in the measure of war-like leadership requirements; disability is not a
taboo but a competitive disadvantage; real impediments for defiant PWD
leaders who rejected sympathy but demanded respect into leadership; gains
despite failings of Act 715. It is recommended that Parliament and the Executive
review the Act with cultural inputs while ensuring enforcement and the creation
of a Disability Fund. The study offers a conceptual framework, ethnographic
and empirical contributions from deep-seated cultural misconceptions in Africa
within the development discourse for the inclusion of persons with disability.
