Mawunyo Kuma Yakor-Dagbah, A Source Of Inspiration For Persons With Albinism - Episode 2

Enyo Yakor’s Educational Background

Enyo Yakor attended Benkum Secondary School after attending Ashaley Botwe Basic School where she sat for Basic Certificate Examination (BECE). From Benkum, she proceeded to Accra Polytechnic (as it then was) for HND Accounting and later pursued Bachelor of Commerce as a top-up programme in University of Cape Coast.

The determined, articulate and passion- for -disability hearted Enyo Yakor did not stop her academic pursuits at the Bachelor level. She pursued MBA Accounting in the same UCC and currently, she is in the process of becoming a Chartered Accountant under the auspices of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG). It must be noted that the twin sisters (Enyo and Ese Yakor) have the same academic background. They have been classmates all through. These were children that out of discrimination based on skin colour were considered less human than dark-skinned persons.

Marital Life and Parenthood

Enyo Yakor is happily married to Mr. Patrick Dagbah and they have three lovely children. Her children are dark skinned and none of them is a person with albinism but they may carry the albinism gene. So are her twin sister’s children too. The discrimination still continues even after coming this far on the social ladder. Discriminators wonder why Patrick would marry a PWA and if he is not embarrassed to step out with his wife.

Appointment In The Ghana Audit Service

Enyo Yakor and her twin sister are currently Audit Officers in the employment of the Ghana Audit Service (GAS). At the initial stages of her employment, Enyo Yakor and her twin sister encountered similar discriminations from some working colleagues who wondered where the GAS authorities got these ones too from and whether or not the albinism sisters could perform the roles of Auditors at all. According to her, they delivered themselves from the workplace discrimination through commitment, hard work and assertiveness. In no time, others realized that the twins’ skin colour did not make them less Auditors than other Auditors.

Regarding Enyo Yakor’s hard work and competence in the GAS, I can attest to that. She has been part of different teams that audited my organisational accounts about four times and in each instance, she exhibited professionalism. She would be polite and relate well with you yet her neutrality would not be impaired. She would do her job as expected. In describing her professional prowess and maturity, I would just borrow words from the Shakespearean Julius Caesar and say, this is a woman. This is a hard working and neutral Auditor.

Enyo Yakor’s Special Achievements

There is something special about Enyo Yakor. She wants people with disabilities to reach their full potential. This became an obsession and provided the impetus for her to excel in order to serve as inspiration to such people especially those with albinism. In tandem with this passion, Enyo serves as a strategic advocate on disability issues in Ghana hence she had granted interviews to some TV stations in the country to empower others.

In terms of special achievements, Enyo Yakor:

1. is currently the President of Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations, being the first female President of the Federation since its inception in 1987.
2. serves on the Board of National Council on Persons with Disabilities as a member.
3. is the Treasurer for the Commonwealth Disabled People Forum, a position she contested for and won at the United Nations Headquarters in New York
4. is a Board Member of Africa Centre for Retirement Research
5. was Vice President – Ghana Federation of Disability Orgaanisations (March 2015 - Feb 2019).
6. was Vice President – Ghana Federation of the Disabled (Sept 2014 - Feb 2015).
7. was the National President of Ghana Association of Persons with Albinism (Sept 2014 - Dec 2017).
8. was Advocacy Officer - Ghana Association of Persons with Albinism (2011- 2014).

Indeed, these achievements of Enyo Yakor are not mean especially mindful of the challenges she encountered as a PWA. To me, the milestones she has achieved so far underscore the reality that disability is not inability. She was just born with a skin colour different from the majority of others but she is no less human. She has even achieved more than some discriminators in society who are not PWA.

Enyo Yakor’s Advice To Society

In Enyo Yakor’s opinion, most persons with disabilities are unable to reach their full potential because government support is inadequate. She thus advocates that public policy makers should turn attention to disability issues in order to enable persons with disabilities (PWD) contribute their talents to society, and live fulfilling lives. Also, anyone can become a PWD because disability no respecter of rank or social status.

It is also her advice that families should support their disabled members. She is so appreciative of the maximum and incessant support she and her siblings with albinism got from their parents. She recalled that at a point, her dad was told to go leave she and her twin sister at Osu Children’s Home but he refused to do so. Their parents gave them hope to excel and they still get that parental love even after they became parents themselves.

She also advised society to stop the discrimination against people with disabilities of any kind.

Conclusion

As indicated in Episode -1 of this piece, the essence of narrating Enyo Yakor’s story is to celebrate her successes despite the numerous barriers she encountered growing up. Also, her story is to inspire other persons with albinism to aspire against the odds. It is equally an opportunity to encourage parents who have children with albinism to support such children to become achievers in society.

Public policy makers should equally pay special attention to issues confronting people with disabilities. “The right to freedom from discrimination requires States to adopt comprehensive strategies to ensure that persons with albinism are afforded equal protection under the law and in practice” (https://albinism.ohchr.org/human-rights-dimension-of-albinism.html).

To this end, I fervently hope that readers of this article will eschew discrimination against people with albinism and rather advocate for their survival.

~Asante Sana ~

Author: Philip Afeti Korto

Email: [email protected]