Let us all Care for the Disabled in the Society.     

   This is what Justice David Majanja said in his judgment in the case of Paul AnupPkiach &Another versus Attorney General & Another (2012) eKLR: ’’The current physical structure of the Milimani Law courts is such that it is a hindrance to justice seekers owing to the physical barriers that make it a herculean task for persons with disabilities to access the courts. Some of the problems recognized are as follows; Access to the Entry Lobby of the Building is restrictive to people with wheel chairs since there is a step to the reception area. The witness boxes in various courts are raised by a platform of 200mm from the general floor which makes it difficult for the physically challenged particularly those on wheel chairs to access the stand. The parking bays are set at a lower level to the general ground which poses a challenge to move to the raised ground over the concrete kerb stone. Some of the entrances to the court rooms are not wide enough for wheel chair.’’ I do not know whether the situation at Milimani law courts has now been rectified. However, what I know is that what the judge said is reflected in various court buildings across the country.

It is ironical that the judiciary is in the forefront in violating the rights of the disabled.However, the judiciary need not worry as it has the company of fellow violators across the society. We have seen many county governments spent billions to buy ambulances for hospitals in their counties. Anyone will agree that is a good thing. Yet a visit to these hospitals will tell you that they cannot be accessed by someone on a wheel chair or blind because of the design of the building and lack of signage in Braille. I can confidently say all Public service vehicles cannot be accessed by the disabled in society yet the relevant stakeholders like the Matatu Owners association are only concerned about pimping their matatus and fussing over the cashless payment system.

We celebrate the innovation of mobile money transfer services but we do not care or ask why there are no subsidized screen readers for the blind. Yet we know that the service providers will not make losses because they have invested in these subsidized screen readers. The disabled are still unable to access the ATM s of many banks across the country even as the banks pride themselves in being the best.

As we prepare for the digital migration we have witnessed concerned television station fight to protect their investments worth of billions. They have every right to do so. However, it should not be forgotten that apart from the national broadcaster, only one of the stations has sign language interpretation during newscast and the airing of programmes of national importance.

Making profit should not be our only business. We should stop the avarice and care about the vulnerable amongst us. It is not enough to say we have employed the disabled in our companies and the different government ministries. It is not enough for the government to say thirty percent of government contracts are for the disabled. Just like it is useless for most companies and the government to call themselves equal opportunity employers when their websites cannot be accessed by blind people. Let us all play our part.