KNCHR calls on the government to empower people with disabilities

Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has called on the government to change laws that limit the legal capacity of persons with disabilities in the country.

The commission said that Kenya has laws that protect rights of persons with disabilities to make their own decisions; however, there are other laws that stop persons with disabilities from making such decisions that need to be amended.

Speaking at the launch of briefing paper on the implementation of Article 12, KNCHR Commissioner Shatikha Chivusia said that people with disabilities are vulnerable and require support through legal frameworks that provide them with equal rights and legal capacity as other citizens.

“Research findings indicate that we are still operating under the guardianship principle and so we need a paradigm shift in the legal framework by going to our laws and picking the provisions that impede the actualization of legal capacity for persons with disabilities and amend them as appropriate,” said Chivusia.

The commission asked the government to mend certain provisions of some laws which have acted as barriers, in order to come up with legal frameworks to help people with disabilities realize their rights .as the existing laws are skewed and biased such as the Banking Act.

“You find that persons with mental and intellectual disabilities are treated the same way as children that they cannot think, yet this is an adult with a mind who can think, know what they want but won’t be allowed to do so because of the attitude about their conditions,” he added.

The commission faulted the government on some provisions of the law that limit people with disabilities in their quest to access services citing the law of contract which requires that you have to have a sane mind to enter into contract.

“Most of our laws in Kenya have provisions that say if you are of unsound mind you cannot make your own decisions for example decision to marry, open a bank account, where to live or even hold a job which in turn limit capacities of these people,” said the commission’s consultant Felicia Mburu.

The commission also raised concerns on the legal frameworks in Kenya, which are not in line with the provisions of Article 12 of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities calling on the government to speed up the implementation of the article.

“By and large now the legal framework in Kenya is not in line with the provisions of Article 12. The current framework under which we are operating is the guardianship principle where somebody else makes decisions for you taking away their will and interest whereas provision under this article says that these people need to be supported to make decisions in accordance to their will and preference,” added Mburu.

Meanwhile, the commission lauded the government for provision of Social Protection Fund for people with disabilities but asked them to ensure that only people who ought to benefit from the fund do so.