Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Kitui county have vowed to champion for a People with Disability (PWD) Bill.
During a recent forum organised by Transparency International which brought together Civil Societies Organization operating in Kitui county, the Civil Society actors promised to engage Kitui county assembly to pass and adopt PWDs bill.
Komu Samuel, a representative of Transparency International said that the organization is pushing for good governance by ensuring special groups get access to public resource.
“We are lobbying for inclusion in resource allocation; our actions aim to directly support groups who have been left behind at intersection of income, wealth and social inequalities,” said Komu.
He added that Transparency International calls for priority in public resource allocation to special groups by strengthening the capacity of locally based Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) alongside women groups and other marginalized groups to achieve equal distribution of resources to the special and vulnerable groups in our societies.
“Transparency International intends to involve both government and non-state stakeholders in bridging the existing gaps and ensuring special groups get access to public resources,” he said.
He confirmed that once a PWDs bill is passed, there will be policies and laws that will guide resource allocation to the special groups.
“Right now, Transparency International doesn’t have enough information about PWDs bill in Kitui county, we are waiting for the report from CSO’s pushing for it so as to understand where and how we can channel our support to see the bill adopted,” he said.
“Once it’s adopted, we will be able to know the exact number of groups or individuals and special group’s categories benefiting from different government funds and grants,” he added.
According to founder of United Disabled Persons and Associate (UDPA) Kitui, Charles Musee, Kitui county PWDs bill was drafted in 2016 and presented to county assembly but was never passed. He urged all the CSO’s to come together and champion for the bill.
Charity Musyoka who is a nominated MCA representing PWDs in Kitui county confirmed that they are in their first stages of formulating the bill. “We are in our first stages, we are collecting input from different stakeholders, CBOs and PWDs included,” said Musyoka.
She encouraged PWDs to participate in the process to help make it a success.
BLINK Executive Director and Amkeni Wakenya board member, Kennedy Siocha said they are working together with other stakeholders to ensure People with Disabilities are involved in decision making at county level.
“Currently we are targeting newly elected leaders to help them catch up with the progress, In Kitui we are lobbying and creating awareness about the PWDs bill, we are optimistic that bill will be adopted by the county assembly,” said Siocha.
He said PWDs bill has already been adopted in Kajiado, Machakos, Nairobi and Nyeri counties which is a great milestone towards achieving resource allocation to special groups.
By Charles Matacho
