Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR) has called on county governments to adopt their own county laws that do not limit the legal capacity representations of persons with disabilities.
Speaking during the launch of briefing paper on implementation of Article 12 of the Kenyan constitution, KNCHR Commissioner Shatikha Chivusia explained that people with bodily disabilities are still vulnerable to exploitation, noting that they require support through county legal frameworks that cater for them with equal access to public services like other able-bodied citizens.
The commission further said that Kenya as a country has achieved milestones in adopting laws that protect rights of the minority group of persons with disabilities to make their own choices. However, KNCHR feels that there are other prohibitive laws that discourage persons with disabilities from making their own key decisions. The human rights body says that such laws need immediate amendments.
“Our research has revealed that county governments still work under the guardianship principles and so we urgently need a paradigm shift in the legal frameworks. We should make laws that help realize the actualization of legal capacity frameworks for persons with disabilities and even amending them as appropriate,” Chivusia said.