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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nominated, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. David ole Sankok",
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"content": " Thank you, very much Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion on the Report of the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations on the Ratification of the Protocols to the African Charter on Human Rights, Rights of the Older Persons and the Rights of Persons with Disability. First of all, let me acknowledge the heroes who have brought us along this journey. Hon. (Dr.) Naomi Shabaan and Hon. (Dr.) Nyikal who are medical doctors by profession. Hon. (Dr.) Naomi Shabaan was the Minister while Hon. (Dr.) Nyikal was the Permanent Secretary in that ministry. At that time, I was working in the National Council for Persons with Disability and all the gains that we have achieved in terms of protection of older persons and protection of person with disability is through their efforts. These are truly the heroes of this journey. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, because of westernisation instead of civilisation, we have adopted the western culture which means we no longer have that social fabric that glued our families together. We have left our older persons languishing in poverty in our rural areas without any medication and sometimes without food and proper care. In worse cases, they are branded as witches and we have had them being killed in other parts of this country. I want to concentrate on the ratification of the protocol on the rights of persons of disability. The African protocol on the rights of person of disability, I must first of all declare my conflict of interest that I was one of those who developed this protocol. It is a very nice protocol. Kenya is ahead of time. I do not know why we cannot ratify it because it will not have any burden in terms of resources and legislation because we are already ahead. In terms of disability rights, we are number one in Africa. All that is needed in this Protocol has already been implemented. Article 54 of the Constitution talks about the need for persons with disability to be treated with dignity and not to be referred in demeaning manners, which is in this Protocol. The Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003 and Sessional Paper No.14. still has more provisions that are already in this Protocol and we have implemented some of them. In 2008, we ratified the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disability and so it is part of our laws. Most of what we brought to the APRPWD were brought from the UNCRPWD. For example, in our country as Hon. (Dr.) Nyikal has said, we have conditional cash transfer to cushion the severely disabled persons to give, at least, a stipend to the caretaker who gives them 24 hours care. Our sign language is the Kenyan recognised sign language and it is examinable in our exams. No other country in Africa has done that. In our performance contracting in ministries, department and agencies (MDAs), there are marks awarded and indicators in terms of disability mainstreaming. It may never be anywhere else in the world. In all Government tenders, there is a reserve for persons with disability to economically empower them through the policy of Access to Government Procurement Opportunity (AGPO). Since my time is up and we are really ahead of this, I do not see the reason why we cannot ratify it. We have come from far as a country. For a long time, a child born with disability in some communities was considered a curse and killed at birth by giving cholesterol as their first food which would coalesce in the stomach and this child would die from hunger. Some mixed sniffing tobacco with water and gave as first food to perforate the intestines. Others threw the child into the camel pen to be stamped on. That is the far we have come from. So, I can say that we have made a lot of strides in disability rights, but we are not yet there. Ratification of this African Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disability will be another step towards the right direction"
}