Shangula warns against abuse of grants
‘Chance-takers’ eye disability grants
Medical practitioners have been urged to decline dubious disability grant applications.
Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula says the ministry has encountered several cases of members of the public attempting to become beneficiaries of the state’s disability grant programme - despite not meeting the criteria.
He stressed that disability grants will only be awarded to eligible persons with verified and recognised forms of disability.
He made the remarks while responding to a question posed in the National Assembly by Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member Theofelus Kamati regarding situations where medical doctors have allegedly denied persons with disabilities the necessary documents to facilitate the grant application.
“We are aware of unfortunate situations where persons would attempt to lodge applications for disability grants, while such persons, on objective construction, would not be bona fide eligible for a disability grant. This is where the element of potential abuse emerges,” Shangula said, adding that where such potential abuse is apparent, medical officers have a duty to point such abuse out, and to refuse to issue documents to such applicants.
Government last year increased the disability grant for children under the age of 18 from N$250 to N$1 400 per month.
Bribes for grants
A Windhoek-based health worker - speaking on condition of anonymity - said “medical practitioners are inundated with dubious requests from chance-takers who want to cash in on the grants. Some of them even offer money to be added onto the country’s disability grant database”.
The minister said a verification of the extent of disability is done through a physical and medical evaluation by a qualified healthcare professional in order to inject a level of objectivity and consistency in the evaluation process. He added that specific tools have been developed to assist healthcare professionals in such an evaluation.
According to Shangula, diligence and care are exercised to ensure that those who need to be assisted with disability grants are accorded the benefit. “At the same time, care is also taken to ensure that the system is not subjected to abuse through dishonest conduct. In this regard, several variables of inquiry are considered. I state categorically that there is no deliberate act on the part of healthcare professionals to deny bona fide and eligible persons access to the disability benefit,” he stressed.
He stressed that disability grants will only be awarded to eligible persons with verified and recognised forms of disability.
He made the remarks while responding to a question posed in the National Assembly by Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member Theofelus Kamati regarding situations where medical doctors have allegedly denied persons with disabilities the necessary documents to facilitate the grant application.
“We are aware of unfortunate situations where persons would attempt to lodge applications for disability grants, while such persons, on objective construction, would not be bona fide eligible for a disability grant. This is where the element of potential abuse emerges,” Shangula said, adding that where such potential abuse is apparent, medical officers have a duty to point such abuse out, and to refuse to issue documents to such applicants.
Government last year increased the disability grant for children under the age of 18 from N$250 to N$1 400 per month.
Bribes for grants
A Windhoek-based health worker - speaking on condition of anonymity - said “medical practitioners are inundated with dubious requests from chance-takers who want to cash in on the grants. Some of them even offer money to be added onto the country’s disability grant database”.
The minister said a verification of the extent of disability is done through a physical and medical evaluation by a qualified healthcare professional in order to inject a level of objectivity and consistency in the evaluation process. He added that specific tools have been developed to assist healthcare professionals in such an evaluation.
According to Shangula, diligence and care are exercised to ensure that those who need to be assisted with disability grants are accorded the benefit. “At the same time, care is also taken to ensure that the system is not subjected to abuse through dishonest conduct. In this regard, several variables of inquiry are considered. I state categorically that there is no deliberate act on the part of healthcare professionals to deny bona fide and eligible persons access to the disability benefit,” he stressed.
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