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{
"id": 1151607,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, DP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Gitonga",
"speaker": {
"id": 13491,
"legal_name": "George Gitonga Murugara",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. Allow me to rise, and support the Bill. Before I make any comments, also allow me to pass my words of condolences to the leader of PWDs, Hon. Sankok, for the tragic accident where he lost his son. May they be consoled, and may the dear son rest in everlasting peace. Hon. Speaker, I support the Bill, and the main reason being that for a long time, we have treated PWDs as semi-human. We have been considering them to be half persons, and this is one reason why, especially in the African culture, they are given strange names even in Swahili like k iwete, which is really demeaning and dehumanising. In spite of the fact that we need moral obligations to ensure that we treat PWDs as human beings like any other, with full human rights like any other persons, it is also important to buttress those rights, obligations and liabilities into law which can be relied on in the future to ensure that these persons are protected. This law is, therefore, timely and I urge the House to pass it. When it comes to establishing offices to cater for PWDs, I would be urging the Government to ensure that my constituency, Tharaka, has such an office, and can treat PWDs in that constituency as full human beings and not as semi humans as most people strive to do. This is a very good law which begins with recognising the rights of PWDs. We have a whole Part II, which consists of over 28 sections dealing with the rights of PWDs. From the beginning, they have a right to equality and non-discrimination, right to privacy, right to human dignity, right to education, right to health and sports culture, civic and political rights, and every other right that they have. These rights are derived from the Constitution, which deals with fundamental human rights. When we reduce these into a statute, it means we are protecting persons with disabilities (PWDs). Importantly, there are also provisions dealing with enforcement of those rights so that we do not mistreat PWDs and get away with it. A person who tries to do this should face the full force of the law as provided for in this Bill. We are establishing the National Council for Persons with Disabilities – a revision of what we have today as per the law of 2003. This Council, which will have more powers than it has today, will take care of persons registered with it as members and who require protection under the law. This is one area we must look at to ensure that it is strengthened so that the Council is able to take care of PWDs, including enforcement of their fundamental rights. Part IV of the Bill deals with reliefs and incentives to ensure that PWDs are well taken care of. It will also ensure that persons taking care of PWDs are able to do so by being given exemptions The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}