Persons living with disabilities in Bungoma County have raised concerns over neglect and failure to be considered for job opportunities in the forthcoming population census exercise.
Speaking to KNA at Kaptama Saturday, the county secretary for persons living with disabilities Kenneth Ruto said that people living with disabilities are often left out when employment opportunities come up.
Ruto called upon relevant authorities dealing with vetting of census jobs to set aside 5 per cent of those jobs for those persons living with disabilities.
He was emphatic that many of the persons living with disabilities were learned and therefore qualified for the advertised jobs.
“We are also part of the community and have a right to be given those census jobs,” he said.
The secretary said that Bungoma has over a thousand registered persons living with disabilities while Mt. Elgon Sub County had over 150, adding that there could be others in the category who have not been registered.
Meanwhile, Ruto has raised concerns over public servants and other citizens in gainful employment who have applied for census jobs, instead of leaving the same for the many unemployed youth.
He added that persons living with disabilities encounter a lot of challenges in their daily lives and therefore need a lot of support from the government, family and friends.
He cited sexual assault as a big challenge especially to disabled girls because most of them are assaulted and left with children, whom they cannot cater for due to their condition.
Ruto also lamented that many persons living with disabilities have not been properly educated, since many children born with disabilities are kept at home by parents instead of being taken to school like other children.
He urged parents to take all their children to school regardless of their condition, as per article 54 of the Kenyan constitution, which outlines the rights of persons living with disabilities.
By Sylvia Nyongesa and James Gichuki
