National Council for People Living with Disabilities (NCPWD) now wants legal repercussions to be imposed on all institutions, individuals and buildings that are not accessible and user-friendly to persons living with disabilities.
NCPWD are claiming that it’s only five percent of the building infrastructure in private and public sectors that are accessible to persons with disabilities which of course has consistently hampered the right to access services and opportunities by persons with disability.
During building bridges initiative committee meeting in Nairobi on Monday, NCPWD chair Peter Mwangi pointed out that there should be an immediate obligation on public and private entities to have their facilities well equipped to provide smooth movement for PWDs.
“Persons with disability have a right to access public transport and built environment, infrastructure, housing, employment, and economic opportunities,” said Mwangi.
“The state and all County Governments must come up with clear guidelines/ by-laws within 6 months for compliance and the penalties for non-compliance,” He added.
However, in public offices, where most of the services are offered, the Initiative has noted with concern that there are no sign language interpreters or Braille. This they say makes it difficult for persons with disabilities to get access to quality basic services like health and access to information which is a central right in accessing all other services.
In pursuit of their mandates, NCPWD has since in their inception engaged in a number of studies, research, and policy change recommendations to ensure that interests of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) are promoted and protected in all laws in Kenya.
