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{
    "id": 1511553,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1511553/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 629,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sabina Chege",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Deaf that is in my county. There is also another school called Percy Davies which is on the side of Maragwa Constituency which normally deals with children with autism. We also have another mission school called Done Orion, which is a Fathers’ mission in Kandara Constituency. Every time I visited those homes, I was touched and moved, especially by the caregivers and people who take their time to take care of those children. Disability has not been taken seriously in the Republic of Kenya and sometimes when they put a ramp on a building, they see like they have covered everything. As I was sharing with the Hon. Chairlady here, you might find a deaf and dumb person in a supermarket and she was just giving me an example of where a child bumped into an adult in a supermarket and she broke something but she could not speak. When the mother was trying to explain and say sorry to this man who was holding the item that was broken, the man was lecturing the mother saying mothers are the ones spoiling our children, and she cannot let this girl who is a grown up to speak for herself and it was painful for the mother to take time to explain to this man that her daughter cannot speak. As we pass some of these laws, it is important for the public to know that there are things that this House does that really touch on people’s lives. If you look at a country like the United States of America (USA), for children who are born or abled differently, there is a fund that is allocated to them. Caregivers are paid so that the mother or parents of that child can either go to work so that they live normal lives or are able to go out. You can have children who were born with disabilities, do not walk, but they have to be taken care of and of course their parents can be fatigued. Even when we talk about Social Health Authority (SHA) and Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), from the primary care to chronic care we need to look at the cover that affects the Persons with Disabilities. One thing I know is that in this country, having such a person is expensive. Apart from the government exempting Persons with Disabilities from tax, access to medication, care, even to buildings, and to education, is also expensive. This is something we need to look at. In my county, and in most of the constituencies, the so called special schools are not special. A class which was used as a nursery, baby class or Standard One is usually set aside. And they stay there and never move. It is good that we now have the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). We introduced sign language within CBC so that we will have a universal language. This is because many of our parents come up with their own way of communication. If a child cannot speak, they will have a way to communicate to them. They have a family way that they can communicate. But when such children go outside, she might try to communicate with another child, but because there is no universal way of communication or training, they will not communicate or express themselves. I therefore urge this House that as we look at this very nice and timely Bill, we think of how we can improve our education system and its structures. It is just the other day that we introduced a number of backseats for Members of Parliament with disabilities to sit on. I am very sure even this House can make a better arrangement, where those Members do not have to really sit at the back, but they can also sit here at the front. I support the Bill. I commend the Committee and even the person who came up with this Bill from the Senate, and now we are here. I urge this House to pass it quickly. I hope the Hon. Chairman has looked at the implementation period, because sometimes we pass very beautiful laws, but there is no follow-up on implementation. What are the timelines? What are the penalties for the people who are supposed to implement this law? As I support, I once again say thank you very much, Hon. Chairlady and your Committee. I urge the Members of this House to stand for those people who are abled differently."
}