{"id":628420,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/628420/?format=json","text_counter":302,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"We know that disability is not a one day occurrence. There are people who were not physically challenged, but because of accidents, they became victims. You might find that a person was not born with disability, but accidents and shootings happen. You may suddenly find that you cannot move and you are on a wheelchair or you have gone blind and you have to deal with that. So, we must look at this from a unilateral point of view, but not a specific point of view of thinking this is only for a particular group of people. Tomorrow, anybody will need these facilities. There are legislators who need these facilities and others will come and they will also need them as well. We should consider all the issues of social amenities and how they can be attained; whether it is about water, roads or buildings and how they need to be constructed such that a child or a grown up with disability would navigate their way very easily. This amendment also gives specific recommendations for county governments to do certain things. Firstly, they need to consolidate the various policies. I do not know whether we have one guiding policy on disability; when was it last reviewed and how will it be cascaded to the counties? Another proposed amendment to this Bill talks about making sure that there is congruence between county assemblies’ legislation and the national legislation. There should no contradiction between what comes from the counties and the national Government regarding matters of disability. Therefore, there is need to look at that policy and review it, make sure that any other subsequent legislation will be directly synced to what comes from county assemblies. That is very critical so that there is alignment of legislation with the national policy to ensure that there is no contradiction. This means a lot of work for the stakeholders. Sen. Omondi will need to put the different stakeholders together. During public participation on amendments on this Bill, it will give a good chance for Kenyans to talk about the various policies that are in place, the various issues that have come up and the various researches and their findings and how to put them together and enhance the work of the county committees that have a lot of responsibilities to develop mechanisms for identification of these. There should be a database because we should have the statistics on various forms of disabilities. You will not get data on schizophrenia or other forms of mental disabilities when you want it. That becomes very difficult. We should not forget that there are many parents who have hidden children with disabilities. Again, we should get into this and have the accurate data. When the conversation begins and people are encouraged to do more and come up with the figures, then, it becomes very critical. We should have the names, places of residence, types of disabilities and any other information that could help address the disabilities. If it is a disability that is short-term and can be addressed, for example, correction of eyes or a cataract operation, let it be done. If it is something that is long- term in terms of correctional possibilities, let that be addressed. If it cannot be corrected, then the idea is to move towards assistance so that those with such disabilities can be enabled in a particular way. There should also be monitoring and evaluation of the counties to ensure that there is respect and dignity because this is what the Bill is all about. You will not have The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"}