Blind teachers appeals to government for support

Accra, Feb. 23, GNA- Mr Osson Lynns, 52, a former teacher and an elder of the Ghana Apostolic Church, who has gone blind through a fatal motor accident, has appealed to the Government to support him in his efforts to get his pension package.

Mr Lynns told the Ghana News Agency that he was affected by a government decision in 1992 to retrench all pupil teachers and therefore lost his job at the Subin Camp Local Authority Primary School in the Adansi East District of the Ashanti Region, after teaching for 13 years. He said he later gained employment with CASHPRO, a private company and after serving for four years he was involved in an accident on the Subin Camp- New Edubiase Road on 21 November, 2001.

Mr Lynns said despite the treatment he received at the Our Lady of Grace Hospita1 at Asikuma in the Central Region, the Ophthalmology Department declared him blind and recommended that he should go on early retirement.

He said his early retirement had affected his pension claims at the Social Security and National Insurance Scheme, where officials had explained to him that he was not due for the facility.

" I have a wife and seven children who I catered for, but due to my predicament their personal developments have been affected.

"My elder daughter who is 21 years is in a nursing training school and is demanding 1.8 million cedis to register for her final examination. I don't have the money now", he said almost in tears.

Mr Lynns has therefore appealed to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and Central Government to come to his aid. 23 Feb. 06