Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR) has revealed that people living with bodily disabilities are still being left out in key decision making in counties.
According to Shatikha Chivusia, a KNHCR official, various counties are yet to empower or even accommodate disabled people when it comes to matters of development.
Chivusia says such people are still very much vulnerable to political exploitation, stating that they require unending support through county legal frameworks which cater for them to get unlimited access to public services just like the other able-bodied citizens.
The commission also said that Kenya as a state has achieved milestones in enacting laws that protect rights of the minority groups of persons living with disabilities to make own choices, especially on matters affecting them.
However, human rights agency feels that there are a number prohibitive laws that limit participation of persons with disabilities from making decisions on key administrative issues.
“Research has it that county governments are still operating under the guardianship principles and therefore, we urgently need paradigm shift in the legal frameworks. We should make laws that help realize the actualization of capacity frameworks for persons living with disabilities,” said Chivusia.