Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju [Photo/howafrica.com]
The Kenya Union of the Blind (KUB) has threatened to take legal action against the Jubilee Party over what it termed “apparent discrimination against blind people on the Jubilee Party list of nomination”.
In a letter dated June 17, 2017 and addressed to the Jubilee Party headquarters, KUB says as a national organisation representing the interests of persons with visual impairment in Kenya, the body is perturbed by the fact that Jubilee locked out applicants with visual impairment from applying for the party list nominations.
No provision, the union says, was made for blind applicants to indicate their nature of disability contrary to what was required of other disability categories—physical, hearing impairment and mentally challenged.
The two-page letter is signed by KUB chairman Stephen Wasike and copied to the union’s chief executive officer Jackson Agufana and KUB governing council members.
Wasike accuses Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju of remaining tight-lipped on the matter despite having acknowledged that Jubilee Party headquarters had received KUB’s complaint and promised to act accordingly.
“Much as we support the Jubilee Party, we feel ignored and offended by the party that we cherish,” the letter reads further.
“Perhaps it was ill-advised from certain quarters. Whatever the case may be, as a prominent member of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and founder member of the United Disabled Persons of Kenya, we would like you to address this petition urgently by taking the appropriate action while time lasts lest KUB takes legal redress over the matter.”
“It is our considered opinion that parliamentary and senate seats should be shared among disability categories with qualified persons and that no single disability category should be favoured with more than one seat to the disadvantage of others.”