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{
    "id": 801623,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/801623/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "has not been done. A census is important because it will help us, as a country, to know how to intervene. Kenya is among the nations that ratified the convention on the rise of PWDs. By doing so, we affirmed that we were going to comply like other state parties, intervene and ensure that PWDs get their rights, live and get an equal benefit like any other person. Even as the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWDs) is doing the census, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) needs to come in to give the technical support needed for a census. The NCPWDs may not have the capacity to do all this. The NCPWDs has to do that, but the KNBS and the Ministry of East African Community, Labour and Social Security need to also come in. The statistics should be done per county so that all counties get to know the number of PWDs in their counties and how to intervene to support them. Madam Temporary Speaker, when we are talking of issues of disability, we need to know that if a country cannot help its PWDs, it means that they are leaving a big section of their citizens behind. We are talking of leaving no one behind. It is a slogan that we are moving with up to Vision 2030. We cannot live with this slogan and fulfill it if we are not attending to about four million people of this country. When you read most literature, most scholars estimate that 10 per cent of the nation has PWDs. That is just an estimate. However, as my fellow Senator mentioned, there is need for proper statistics so that we know exactly the number of persons having disabilities. Even from the PWDs, we need to know the number of people having physical disability, for example, blindness and so on. Only a pocket full of PWDs are duly registered. It means that a huge chunk of PWDs are not benefiting from what they are supposed to benefit from even from the NCPWD. When it comes to registration, there are PWDs who would want to be registered, but they may not afford the protocol and finances involved to allow them to be registered. When you are told to give evidence that you have a disability, sometimes it worries me. If you see someone is blind, do you need evidence to see that the person has a visual impairment? If you see someone on a wheelchair, do you need evidence to show that the person has a disability? If you see someone on crutches and he is not even able to move, do you need evidence? If you see a child with Down Syndrome, do you need evidence to say that this is a child with Down Syndrome? The Government should make sure that PWDs go through the assessment without paying a fee. When you are going for assessment, you are not going because you are happy but because you have a permanent disability and you want to be attended to and get the services like anybody else. PWDs should go through assessments without having to pay a fee. When it comes to PWDs, you find some of them in the streets begging. They are not getting the services because they have not proved that they have a disability yet if they got the registration, they would benefit from the funds that the Government disburses to the NCPWD. This means that they will be empowered economically. When you look at Article 43 of the Constitution, PWDs are not able to enjoy their socio- economic rights especially when they have not been identified. We even have children on the streets begging yet they could be taken to school through free education. They can The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}