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{
    "id": 1151624,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1151624/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saku, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Ali Rasso",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13473,
        "legal_name": "Dido Ali Raso",
        "slug": "dido-ali-raso"
    },
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. At the outset, I rise to condole with the family of Hon. Sankok, who lost his son in the most tragic circumstances. We wish them God’s grace. I believe he would have contributed to this debate and embellished it because from where he sits, he has a better understanding of a lot of issues that people with disabilities go through day in, day out. I want to pick up from where Hon. Dennitah Ghati stopped. In the last Parliament, we were in the same Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations as we began the First Session. I think when that tragic accident happened, Hon. Dennitah Ghati was wheelchair-bound and in one of our foreign visits, where she was a member of the delegation, we could feel the stress that she was going through and how much it was inconveniencing to have a member of a delegation who needed special assistance to reach places or even to access some of the meeting areas. Hon. Speaker, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 is among the most celebrated constitutions the world over. It is considered to be progressive particularly in the area of the Bill of Rights. In the Bill of Rights, I believe that one of the fundamental rights is the right to life and for that matter, quality life. The people with disabilities in our midst are people who lack voices. They lack access to opportunities, employment and businesses. They lack access to even those of us in leadership because they are unable to reach us. The AU Protocol on Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons that I think this House passed two months ago is also a landmark instrument that we, as a nation, must walk the talk. Persons living with disabilities are among those who are very poor in the society. I think if we are truthful to ourselves, when we walk around our constituencies, many of them live in what you call “undesirable dwellings”. This is because they cannot afford decent housing. They do not have the resources to put themselves in where others dwell. As Hon. Dennitah Ghati said, for you to understand the suffering and disadvantages that people living with disabilities go through, it is just to experience when you are almost 100 per cent well and when a tragic accident happens and you become a person living with disability. 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."
}