Disability is not inability
"Persons with disability should be included in building the nation". This is according to President Uhuru Kenyatta who said every single citizen has the ability to contribute towards building the nation in different capacities.
“One of our Principal Secretaries --- has proved to have become one of the most effective principal secretaries despite her disability. She has proved herself to be equal to her counterparts and to participate and produce and actually show great results,” the President said.
Kenyatta also said that no Kenyan should be left behind even as the country develops.
“No Kenyan should ever be left behind for whatever reason, be it our girls, be it Persons with Disabilities, be it our young people. We have a number of programmes that are specifically geared towards addressing people who have disabilities to help and support them,” Kenyatta said.
Kenyatta urged the relevant stakeholders in the government to ensure they carry out sensitization programmes that will inform persons with disabilities and their families on how they can get assistance.
Education
In terms of education, President Kenyatta said his administration has set milestones to ensure persons with disability are catered for much more than what previous administrations have done.
“I issued a directive to the Ministry of Education asking them to ensure Persons with Disability are given more time when doing exams. As they do the same exams as their abled counterparts, a disabled person should be given more time,” he said.
Kenyatta said the move would ensure Persons with Disability do not fail their exams due to such constraints.
His sentiments come at a time when the government has released Sh4.3 billion for payment to a total of 1,091,166 beneficiaries enrolled in the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme.
A total of 33,948 beneficiaries enrolled under the Persons with Severe Disability cash transfer programme will receive Sh135,820,000.
Each of the beneficiaries will receive Sh4,000 to cover the July-August 2020 payment cycle.
Other groups of beneficiaries include orphans and vulnerable children and older persons.
Margaret Njuguna