Press Statement: ‘Persons With Disabilities Demand Retention And Enhancement Of Rights As Protected Under The 2010 Constitution’
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Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the Press:
We address you today as the Kenya Parliamentarians, United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), and the National Caucus on Disability Rights (CDRA). UDPK is the Umbrella organization of Disabled Persons Organizations in Kenya whose mandate is to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. CDRA is a loose coalition of organizations of persons with disabilities and organizations providing services to persons with disabilities.
Today we want to give an official statement as regards the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Report, therefore an official statement of all persons with disabilities in Kenya as regards the BBI report.
In summary, we want to say that the BBI Report makes recommendations that undermine the letter and spirit of the inclusion of persons with disabilities which is captured in the Constitution. It removes the seats reserved for persons with disabilities in the National Assembly and the Senate under Article 97 and 98 of the Constitution, thereby degrading the institutional arrangements via which persons with disabilities exercise representation. The BBI Report is thereby a mockery of the very inclusion it seeks to foster and indeed it perpetuates discrimination in violation of Article 27 of the Constitution.
We want to lay ground of the gains that as persons with disabilities we are afforded by the Constitution.
The Constitution protects all Kenyans from discrimination. Article 10 stipulates human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination, and protection of the marginalized as national values and principles of governance.
Articles 97 and 98 make express provisions for the representation of persons with disabilities in the National Assembly and Senate. The County Assemblies similarly include legislators with disabilities, pursuant to Article 177 of the Constitution.
Reserved seats for persons with disabilities in Parliament and County Assemblies are a critical component for redressing the disadvantage and discrimination faced by persons with disabilities as guaranteed in Article 27 of the Constitution which prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of disability.
Indeed, Article 54 (2) of the Constitution obligates the State to ensure that persons with disabilities hold at least five percent of elective and appointive positions in public offices.
These constitutional guarantees conform with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to which Kenya is a party. Article 4 (3) of the CRPD obligates Kenya to closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities in law and policy as well as other decision-making processes.
Furthermore, pursuant to Article 29 of the CRPD, Kenya is required to guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others.
As far as the BBI report is concerned, we as persons with disabilities, recommend the following:
1. In Article 54 (2) of the Constitution, the State shall be obligated to ensure that persons with disabilities hold at least five percent of elective and appointive positions in public bodies. This provision shall not be realized on a progressive basis as it has been the case.
2. In Article 90 of the Constitution, political parties shall abide with the principle of fair representation of persons with disabilities while preparing party lists. We propose that persons with disabilities who are members of respective political parties have a say in determining the person proposed for nomination to represent persons with disabilities.
3. In article 97 of the Constitution, on National Assembly of the proposed 360 members, 18 seats shall be reserved for persons with disabilities, being 9 men and 9 women, in line with the five percent principle. These seats shall be filled by political parties using lists determined on the basis of the total number of votes cast at the national level.
4. In article 98 1 (d) of the Constitution, the Senate shall include at least four senators with disabilities, including two men and two women, to represent persons with disabilities in the Senate, in line with the five percent principle. These seats shall be filled by political parties based on the total number of votes cast at the national level.
5. In article 152 of the Constitution, the President shall ensure that at least one Cabinet Minister is a person with disability.
6. In Article 155 of the Constitution, the President shall ensure that at least three Principal Secretaries are persons with disabilities.
7. In Article 177 of the Constitution, a County Assembly shall include at least four members with disabilities, including two men and two women, to represent persons with disabilities in the County Assembly. These seats shall be filled by political parties based on the total number of votes cast at the county level. The effect of this amendment shall be to clarify that a County Assembly will be deemed not to be properly constituted if it fails to include members with disabilities.
8. In Article 250 of the Constitution, the President shall ensure that at least one member of a Constitutional Commission is a person with disability.
9. In Article 260 of the Constitution, the definition of persons with disabilities is introduced in full conformance with the social model of disability as anchored in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
These proposals are inspired by a self-evident truth. The most basic concerns of persons with disabilities are invariably forgotten in every process which excludes their participation. This reality is laid bare by the BBI Taskforce and its successor Implementation Committee which did not have members with disabilities. By contrast, the process which led to the 2010 Constitution included persons with disabilities and resulted in inclusive provisions. The message of persons with disabilities remains: ‘nothing about them without them’, a message that must be respected in the National Assembly, the Senate, County Assemblies, Cabinet, and Constitutional Commissions.
As persons with disabilities, we gave the BBI Task Force all these recommendations which were unfortunately disregarded. The BBI report neither recognizes the barriers and restrictions that as persons with disabilities we face in participation in societies. We presented memos, consulted with hundreds of persons with disabilities from the counties who made it clear what they wanted addressed in the BBI, we shared all this with the Task Force. It is therefore a shock that all this was blatantly ignored.
We are now asking our legislators who represent us, to receive and take our memorandum to Naivasha and present our demands in the planned meeting. We now want to officially hand over to them.
“NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US ”
Thanks
United Disabled Persons of Kenya, Caucus for Disability Rights, Kenya Disability Parliamentary Association, Kenya National Association of the Deaf, Short Stature Society of Kenya, Albinism Society of KENYA, Clubfoot Society of Kenya, Autism Society of Kenya, Kenya Society for the Blind, Down Syndrome Society of Kenya, Disability Initiative (DIESK), Women With Disabilities League, Youth with Disabilities Forum, National Voice of Parents of Children with Disabilities, Society of Visually Impaired Professionals
1st November 2020
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