A new law meant to safeguard the rights of Persons with Disabilities has spelt out stiff penalties for those found contravening its provisions.
Article 61(1) of the Persons with Disability Bill 2023(Bill no 7 of 2023) states that anyone ‘who wilfully and without any lawful justification treats a person with disability in any manner in contravention of Article 2794(4) and (5) of the Constitution commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding two million shillings or imprisonment not exceeding two years.
Among the offences listed here are denying such people public services or entry into public places accessible to members of the public, the right to inheritance of family property, health services, education, and rights to obtain, process, and utilise documents of registration or identification such as a birth certificate, a national identity card, and a passport.
Parents who mete out physical violence occasioning actual harm or psychological torture, wrongfully confine or detain a person living with a disability to deny such a person opportunities and services as outlined in law shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Article 64. (1) of the Bill also mandates both the National and County governments to take necessary measures to eliminate harmful practices often committed against persons with disabilities, such as witchcraft, abandonment, concealment, and ritual killings.
Any person who perpetrates such harmful practice against a person with a disability commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to life imprisonment.
Medical practitioners have also been prohibited from discriminating against persons with disabilities in the observance of ethical guidelines on informed consent and confidentiality when attending to them.
Healthcare workers attending to persons with disabilities will from now on be obliged to take special care to provide complete information through accessible methods and formats.
Article 67(4) states that any medic who performs a procedure on a person with a disability and which leads to or is likely to lead to infertility commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine of three million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both.
The Bill also outlines the publishing, circulating, or displaying of any publication that lowers or demeans the dignity of a person with a disability or which amounts to discrimination.
If convicted under the above offence, one shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one million or serve a term not exceeding six months or both according to Article 68. (3) of the Bill.
In addition, any person who causes harm or death to a person with a disability through torture, cruel treatment, ritual killings, or other harmful practices commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to life behind bars.
To enhance safety and ease of mobility for persons with disabilities, the bill has mandated national and county governments to equip pedestrian crossings with traffic control signals controlled by a pedestrian push button system.
Similarly, authorities in the transport sector should provide persons with disabilities with clearly audible signs. Operators of Public Service Vehicles should also ensure their vehicles adhere to both safety and mobility standards that are compliant with the needs of people with disabilities and as specified by the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.
“A registered owner of a public transport vehicle shall adjust the vehicle to suit persons with disabilities in such a manner as maybe specified by the Council in consultation with the relevant government agencies. A registered owner of a public transport vehicle who improves or modifies it to make it accessible for persons with disabilities shall be entitled to apply to the Cabinet Secretary responsible for finance for twenty-five per cent of the direct cost of the improvements and modifications,” reads Article 73. (1), (2) of the Bill.
Lucy Wanyitu, who is the Chair on Delegated Legislation at the County Assembly of Nyeri, has welcomed the proposed regulation, which she says will help curb discrimination against persons living with disabilities.
The lawmaker says the Bill will also put an end to unscrupulous individuals who have been using persons with disabilities as conduits for quick financial gains instead of assisting them to come up with some form of income-generating opportunities.
She says she is still going through the Bill and will present her recommendations before the Bill is presented to President Dr. William Ruto for signing into law.
“This is good legislation as far as safeguarding the welfare and rights of persons living with disabilities is concerned. Persons with disabilities have long been used as cash cows for individuals who want to make easy money pegged on their misfortunes. For years, persons with disabilities have been ferried from as far as Tanzania to come and beg along the streets of major towns of Nyeri, but if you send such people behind bars for four years, none will ever repeat such a mistake, ” she told KNA.
Kabatha Wanjohi, who is the Nyeri Disability Network Chairperson, says he is yet to acquaint himself with the contents of the Bill, though he has it in soft copy format in his smartphone.
Kabatha, who has been a leading voice in advocating for the rights of persons living with disabilities in the county for years, stated that he could therefore only comment on the Bill once he has familiarised himself with the entire document.
“I haven’t read (the Bill), but I heard it was discussed in Parliament. You cannot endorse what you have not gone through. You must go through the document (first) and see whether it is carrying information from the ground to avoid endorsing something which will end up benefiting the privileged lot without taking into consideration the needs of the deserving beneficiaries,” he has pointed out.
The Bill was approved by members of the National Assembly last Thursday after amendments by the Committee on Social Protection.
By Samuel Maina