PWDs to register at counties, e-citizen platform

Persons living with disabilities (PWDs) have a reason to smile after the government announced that going forward they will register at their respective county headquarters. The registration has in the past been happening at the national government level forcing the PWDs to travel long distances. "The government has on the other hand decentralised registration of persons with disabilities to be done by directors of health at the county level," said Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura. "This development saves the unregistered PWDs the agony of travelling all the way from their villages to Nairobi to seek verification and signing of their disability medical assessment reports by the National Director of Medical Services paving way for their recognition as such," he said. Mwaura was speaking on Thursday in Nairobi when he outlined achievements for the Ministries of Labour, Health and Water, Irrigation and Sanitation during the Kenya Kwanza regime's 16 months in office. The government in what it calls roadshow, has been reviewing the service delivery performance of the 22 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), where a report will be generated and presented in the second Cabinet retreat. The centralised system, Mwaura said in the past made a number of PWDs to forego the registration in effect denying them benefits that come with recognition of their condition. "The low number of the PWDs captured by the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) at about 580,000 in the country whereas the World Health Organisation's (WHO) figure stands at slightly above 6 million PWDs is attributable to eligible PWDs shying away from registering over the long process but the uptake is now expected to go up following the decentralisation," he said. He announced that the process has further been shortened by the government's move of on-boarding the disability registration service on the E-citizen platform as per the presidential directive. Mwaura said the online registration is aimed at collecting accurate socio-economic data of PWDs right from the ward level. "Eligible PWDs can now register themselves from the comfort of their homes as long as they have a smart phone and the signed health assessment reports backed by a national identity card or birth certificate and passport-size photo to be uploaded," Mwaura said. He noted that already, 3,091 submissions have been made through the e-citizen platform by PWDs since activation of the service last month. The Government Spokesperson said cognizant of the possibility of reversing the gains Kenya has made in promoting disability inclusion, the government will in the next cycle of performance contracting reinstate the disability mainstreaming performance indicator. The indicator, he said had been retired from the performance contract of all MDAs. He explained that the Disability Support Allowance for Public Servants with disabilities has been revised by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to include more types and categories of persons with disabilities such as those with low vision including albinism (drawing print nearer to the eye), two crutches or walking frames. "The government urges all employers within the public service to take note of this new development, and for PWDs who qualify as enumerated above to contact their relevant employers in order for them to benefit from this very empowering development," he said. He revealed that they will be earning an extra Sh20,000 allowance for their personal aids. On health, Mwaura termed the Social Health Insurance Fund(SHIF), as a stride towards achieving a more inclusive and accessible healthcare system in Kenya. This is after the Court of Appeal last week lifted the ban and gave government ago ahead to deduct Kenyans 2.75 per cent from their salaries towards SHIF. "Notably, 54 per cent of Kenyan hustlers will benefit from reduced NHIF contributions from Sh500 to Sh300, resulting in enhanced affordability for essential healthcare services," he said. "Simultaneously, the Act ensures fairness by introducing a modest 2.2 per cent upward adjustment for the remaining 46 per cent of the population, contributing to a more balanced distribution of healthcare financing responsibilities," he added. He noted that health facilities have been increased from 13,841 to 14,532 representing a 5 per cent increase with the national hospital bed capacity increasing by 14.8 per cent to 109,020 More than 100,817 smartphones have been delivered to Community Health Promoters (CHPs) in the sub-counties across all the 47 counties to promote primary healthcare and to help in the tracking of information concerning health in all households in Kenya. "The number of women covered under Linda Mama maternity program increased to 638,541, a 30 per cent increase further underscoring our commitment for reproductive and maternal health," he said. Mwaura explained that under Primary Health Care Fund (PHCF) for one to get promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, palliative and referral services, registration is mandatory for all Kenyans and it will begin in March 1. The spokesperson assured that cancer drugs are now available at the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH). The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Sanitation, has increased the area under irrigation by 6.7 per cent from 664,000 acres to 711,933 acres, an increase of 47,933 and a further 60,000 acres will be put under irrigation by end of the year thus drawing closer to attaining food security under the BETA plan. Mwaura noted that the government has increased rice production from 192,299 metric tonnes in 2022 to 234,000 metric tons, an increase of 47,933 metric tons (22 percent) to further reduce rice consumption deficit and importation. The government has also constructed 100 small water dams and water pans across the country to harvest run off water for small holder irrigation and livestock use. Other achievements are increased urban sewerage coverage from 27 per cent in 2022 to 32 per cent in 2023, thus raising sanitation standards in urban areas. This, Mwaura said is in tandem with the commitment of Kenya Kwanza manifesto, which aims at empowering over 2 million farmers through raising productivity of key value food chains, and reducing dependence on basic food imports by 30 per cent and local rice production from 18 per cent to 40 per cent.

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