By Stephen Bwire
Ouma Dennis Peter speaks with authority, exuding knowledge and flashes an infectious smile. He is one man who will leave you shaking your head in awe and amazement at the passion and energy by which he goes about his advocacy for PWDs, a cause to which he has unflinchingly devoted himself for the last eight years.
The 35-year-old has been confined to a wheel chair for the last 12 years; God saved him from the clutches of death by a nasty accident which left him totally incapacitated after sustaining a spinal cord injury. He has been on physiotherapy but his condition hasn’t improved, unless a divine miracle happens to him. By the time of the ugly accident, he was 23 years old working at Entebbe International Airport holding the position of Team Leader Passenger Services, and at the same time pursuing Bachelor of Commerce (External programme- Third Year). As a result, he couldn’t complete his studies.
The lurid experience of paralysis which numbed the use of his legs, hands, and among other body functionalities has given him a strong resolve to live and catch up on his life dreams. His is a story of overcoming despair, having overcome death by the grace of God, to living out the full potential.
This is the common narrative countless others the world over would go through since time immemorial; the story of a good beginning being rudely distorted by an accident or other means condemning one to the heap of statistics of PWDs whilst others were born that way. However, it’s only through taking full cognizance of the truism that “disability is not inability” that one could rise from the ashes of despair to find hope and meaning in life. Whatever doesnot kill you will not invalidate your resolve to live and achieve your dreams and aspirations.
It’s the same truism that has kept Ouma’s light burning for the last 12 years. While listening out to him, you will see a man with a mission and clarity of purpose. A man who believes in himself including his abilities that every time he goes to sleep, he will dream seeing himself walking on his legs much as fate may have condemned him to a wheel chair!
“One thing I had to do was remind myself that am not yet dead. I had to tell my inner self that I wanted to live and I had a dream to accomplish. Life has not been easy, but it’s my determination to push on with hope that keeps me going up to date,” he says.
The determination to accomplish his dreams saw Ouma going back to school at Makerere University to see if he could be given a chance to complete his studies starting from where he had stopped.
“Fast forward, in 2018, I applied for reinstatement and the Makerere University Kampala Board reviewed my application and resolved to have me reinstated to complete the fourth year despite my Disability! This was also after several rejections from various Universities in my attempt to pursue a Law Degree. Reason for rejection is that I was too disabled, unable to write by myself and ascend the stairs to the lecture rooms.
Alternative Voice
Ouma’s powerful oratory and advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) has defined him as an alternative voice championing the rights of the marginalised.
“The PWDs is a big community in Uganda, we are not less than 6million in number representing 12.4 per cent of the total population, boasting a constituency of 4million registered voters; our numbers are huge enough to decide the outcome of an election, and yet government hasn’t paid attention to the critical issues of the PWDs. Day by day, we continue to endure some of the most horrid tales of marginalisation; there are some people including our leaders who think that we don’t exist neither do we matter in society,” he says with a tinge of exasperation, adding:
“I cannot begin to mention the countless challenges, the inaccessible environments, the insurmountable exclusion Persons with Disability continue to face in this country, and yet do so without a voice that is critical enough to address the growing challenges of the day, without fear or favour, from a practical solutions perspective.”
Ouma says that most of the PWDs live in rural areas in abject poverty without any reasonable government intervention to alleviate their plight. For instance, the PWDs are acutely discriminated in the share of the national social development grants for special interest groups being given out by government. He says that the youth and women groups are given huge disbursements in the range of Shs20-50million per group, while the PWDs groups would receive not more than Shs 2million.
He is also appalled by the current revised electoral roadmap which will be media-based and doesn’t address the concerns of PWDs. “The blind cannot watch TV, the deaf can’t listen to radio, and majority can’t access social media to follow the campaigns, so the EC should do an inclusive roadmap which doesn’t discriminate us the PWDs,” he says.
Ouma asserts that the biggest blame may not go to the government as the primary reason why the PWDs community may not be adequately catered for in the government mainstream planning, budgeting and policy dissemination, but lack of clear-cut thoughtful and selfless leadership that is passionately committed to the PWDs agenda.
“Some of our leaders especially among the PWD community have failed to inspire any real change; we continue to voice out our concerns including writing several petitions to be adopted in legislation but no one ever listens to us, there has been and still is a big disconnect between Government or policy makers and the PWDs community. For instance, whenever government originates mass programmes, none of these programmes is specifically earmarked for PWDs; we are never consulted on any matter inspite of the fact that we have representatives at all levels,” Ouma contends.
“Luckily enough, over the eight years with intentional exposure, I have been involved in tireless Persons with Disability Rights Activism with the view to promote, protect, preserve and recognise the same,” he adds.
Ouma has cut his teeth in politics, joining the race to represent PWDs. He has traversed the breadth and width of the country popularising the alternative voice to the PWD community, and he admits that his message has been embraced with relief.
Once in parliament, his task is to advocate for accessible and affordable micro-finance services for the PWD community to enable them do business. He also intends to champion the establishment of the National Disability Strategy to guide government on policy and legislation for critical issues of PWDs.
Currently, the young firebrand has attracted and rallied a group of supporters and funders across the political-social divide who are pushing him to parliament. The clarity of his message which would inspire hope and practical solutions is what has endeared him to the PWD community having risen from obscurity.
Ouma went to Jinja College for his O’level and thereafter proceeded to Kololo SS for A’level. At A’level he ran a fierce campaign that saw him elected as Head Prefect in 2002. It’s the same leadership streak that dogs him in the current race to parliament. He is entirely beholden to his supporters and campaign team who are putting in money and energy to see this dream a reality. He is a member of the FDC National Executive Committee in charge of PWDs.
“This Candidature is about each and every one of the members in this country, you are my friends and family, and for standing with me all these years, I thank you all.”
