By Alick Nzangaya
As the country join the rest of the world in commemorating the world braille day on Tuesday, the Malawi Union of the Blind (MUB) has asked the Malawi government to formulate a policy that will see braille equipments getting into the country duty free.
This is according to MUB Executive Director Ezekiel Kumwenda who in an interview with this publication said people with visual impairment are facing numerous challenges when it comes to accessing braille equipments.
Kumwenda said the first challenge is that most braille materials such as: Perkins Braille, Machine Money readers, Embossing machine, Braille papers, Braille wrist watches and white canes are so rare to find in the country.
He said this is so because companies that bring these materials into the country are over charged in name of duty a thing which he say needs to be reviewed if government is really serious about eradication challenges faced by the blind.
Kumwenda further said giving braille materials a permanent free duty status will increase the availability of such materials in the country and reduce prices thereby enabling the visually impaired to be buying those materials on their own.
“People with visual impairment are facing a lot of challenges in the country, for example for us to produce braille it requires a lot of things to put them together such as braille papers, braille machines which are too expensive.
“We are then requesting the government to make sure that equipments for the Blind which are not locally manufactured should be given duty exemption when being imported into the country, so that visually impaired people can be easily buying them on their own,” said Kumwenda.
The Executive Director has also urged the Malawi government to domesticate and ratify the Africa Disability Protocol to enable Malawians who are blind and those with visual impairment to start benefiting from the protocol.
He then congratulated the National Planning Commission for providing the Malawi 2063 vision document in accessible format for blind and visually impaired people which he said amplifies some stakeholders’ commitment to helping the visually impaired.
Kumwenda has also commended the Reserve Bank of Malawi for the awareness campaigns for the blind and visually impaired it conducted in December 2021 regarding the new currencies that it has issued and the K5,000 note to be issued in February this year.
World braille day which falls on January 4, commemorates the birthday of Louis Braille, born at Coupvray, France in 1809, who was credited for inventing braille, a widely used touch system of reading and writing for persons who are blind.
