By Joe Aura, aurajoe6@gmail.com
December 3, we mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) – a day to celebrate resilience, push for equity, and reflect on the societies we are building. This year’s theme, “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress,” is deeply personal for many Kenyan families – including mine.
My grandmother is the definition of grit. As a single mother raising several children, she woke before dawn to milk cows, tend the compound, fetch water, and sell whatever she could to keep her family alive and her children in school.
One fateful morning, while navigating the slippery rocks of River Yala during her daily routine, she fell and seriously injured her back. Overnight, the woman who once carried the weight of her world could no longer walk unaided. Mobility became a struggle, and without a car or daily help, moving even short distances turned into an exhausting ordeal.
Her story reflects a truth many Kenyans face: disability can arrive suddenly, uninvited, and society’s response determines whether a life ends in despair – or transforms with dignity.
Kenya has made important strides. The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 replaced the 2003 law with a transformative rights-based framework. It establishes a 5% employment quota, mandates physical accessibility in public spaces and transport, and offers tax incentives to employers who accommodate workers with disabilities. These provisions – if fully implemented – can prevent families like mine from sinking deeper into hardship after an accident or illness. But laws alone don’t remove the rocks from our rivers, repair the stigma in our communities, or ensure mobility for someone like my grandmother. The journey from policy to practice is still steep.
Beyond legislation, Kenya’s healthcare system is quietly undergoing a revolution in disability support – one that many citizens don’t yet know about. At Kenyatta National Hospital, the Department of Orthopedic Technology, led by the country’s only consultant in orthopedic technology, Dr. Onjei Ondege, has transformed mobility and rehabilitation services.
Through partnerships between the Ministry of Health, AT-Scale, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the department now assembles advanced wheelchairs, walking appliances, and prosthetics using world-class Swiss and Alivio technologies. Their workflow—supported by new rotor machines, an infrared oven that molds materials in 20 minutes, and a state-of-the-art Motion Lab—has reduced patient turnaround times dramatically. A prosthetic leg that once took three days can now be ready in two hours. For people who have suffered accidents, strokes, or congenital conditions, this is life changing.
And yet—these services mean little if they remain hidden behind hospital walls, or if cultural stigma and lack of awareness keep people from seeking help. Many still believe disability is a personal tragedy rather than a societal responsibility. Abroad, one can easily book accessible hotel rooms, choose disability-friendly travel options, or navigate cities designed with ramps, lifts, auditory signals, and tactile pavements. Here at home, my grandmother must still wrestle with uneven grounds, inaccessible buildings, and public transport that rarely considers wheelchair users.
A disability-inclusive society is not one where people are simply tolerated – it is one where they are expected, supported, and celebrated. It is a Kenya where a woman injured at River Yala does not lose her independence; where mobility devices are affordable and accessible; where every teacher, police officer, doctor, and public servant is trained in disability rights; where digital government services work for everyone; and where we see disability not as a burden, but as part of the human experience.
The Kenyan government can become more inclusive by enforcing simpler, clearer laws that prioritize accessibility and by integrating the needs of people with disabilities into all policymaking through disability mainstreaming. This includes implementing specific regulations for accessible infrastructure, such as ramps and accessible public transport, and ensuring access to resources like technology and education. A key strategy is consistently involving people with disabilities in the design and implementation of these laws and services.
Inclusion isn’t charity. It’s justice. It’s progress. And it is the only path to a Kenya where every person – disabled or not – can live fully, contribute meaningfully, and age with dignity.
This IDPD, let us walk the talk. Let us build a Kenya where no one’s life ends on a slippery rock.
#IDPD2025 #AccessibilityForAll #HumanRights #SustainableDevelopment #LeaveNoOneBehind
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