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{
    "id": 1418131,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1418131/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 189,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Irene Mayaka",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. As a Member of the Committee of National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity, I stand to support the Report. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our able leadership led by the Chairman, Hon. Yussuf Adan and our Vice-Chairlady, Hon. Liza Chelule, for the comprehensive Report from the Committee. I would like to point out some of the observations that we made while interviewing some of the public institutions. Article 54(2) of our Constitution provides that the ideal percentage for persons with disability in public institutions should be 5 per cent. Out of the 39 institutions that we interviewed, 24 fell short of that compliance; that is a total of 61 per cent of those interviewed which gives you an average of 2.1 per cent of the persons with disability employed in our public institutions. One of the things that we noticed is the lack of an adequate and comprehensive policy in those institutions that lay out the requirements for them to have persons with disability there. The other issue was limited outreach. Every institution that we interviewed told us that they did not have enough persons with disability coming for the interviews. We also noticed that there was lack of adequate staff with adequate training on sign language or how to handle persons with disability. When you look at the Report, you will notice some uniqueness because we did not just give recommendations, but we gave a timeline for each one of them. For instance, we clearly indicated that in three months’ time, public institutions should have human resource policies that directly speak to issues in reference to persons with disability. We also asked those institutions if they had taken into consideration speaking to Members of Parliament or constituency offices which have database for persons with disability within their constituencies. We recommended to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to check their database once more, and compare notes with Members of Parliament to ensure that their database is updated to have a reflection of all the 290 constituencies. They should ensure that they have all persons with disability in their records. We also recommended proactive registration of the database and updating the same. As a Committee, we recommended that it should be done in three months. Therefore, we will again check with the NCPWD to ensure that their records are up to date. Hon. Temporary Speaker, another recommendation that we strongly considered was the collaboration of public institutions with health insurance. This was occasioned by the fact that health insurance coverage fund did not take into consideration how expensive it is for persons with disability to acquire their mobility tools like wheelchairs and crutches. Most insurance funds do not cover this. Finally, I want to encourage persons with disability that we have had so many success stories of persons with disability who have confirmed that disability is not inability. Therefore, mine is just to urge them to ensure that they are registered with the National Council for Persons with Disability and the Offices of Members of Parliament to ensure that their records are updated. They should communicate effectively with the Council so that they are given those opportunities whenever they arise. I submit and support the Report."
}