Uphold rights of disabled, Kalonzo urges

By Juma Kwayera

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has pitched for the rights of people with disability, saying they are an important constituency that should be harnessed for economic and social development.

Mr Musyoka appealed to companies and institutions to speedily implement the rights of people with disabilities as provided for in the Bill of Rights in the new Constitution.

"The new Constitution whose implementation is under way features an expanded and more comprehensive Bill of Rights that recognises the need to rationalise the case for dignified treatment of persons with disabilities," he said on Friday, at a Nairobi hotel during the launch of Niko Fiti, Corporate Social Responsibility Programme aimed at promoting the welfare and interest of people with disability. The Standard Group and Kenya Reinsurance Corporation have sponsored the campaign.

He added, "Any nation is worth the policies directed at ensuring the comfort and safeguarding the rights of persons with disabilities."

The campaign is premised on the principle that self-reliance for people with disabilities is key to the elimination of extreme poverty as spelt out in UN Millennium Development Goals.

At the function that was also attended by former Vice-President Moody Awori, Kalonzo said the Constitution provided for elimination of all forms of discrimination and respect for the rights all citizens irrespective of their social status and physical condition.

He said investing in the comfort of people with disability would address questions of poverty through creation of employment.

He observed that Kenya had ratified a number of international legal instruments that reinforce what is provided for in the new Constitution and other pieces of legislation.

At the same time, Kalonzo has urged Kenyans to discard tribalism and embrace national unity for peace and prosperity. He was speaking at Karatina Town where he addressed wananchi after inspecting the rehabilitation of the Karatina Market. The Government, at a cost of Sh268 million, finances the project.

—Additional reporting by VPPS