General News
With 10m disabled people, itโs time to level the field
By PHITALIS WERE MASAKHWE
While in Rwanda recently, two incidents made me reflect on the state of the East African Community and its ability to cater for the needs of more than 10 million disabled people in the region.
First, I met James Ndahiro, who was among dignitaries in a workshop that I had been invited to facilitate on Millennium Development Goals and disabled people in Kigali.
Dr Ndahiro is visually impaired.
He is one of Rwandaโs representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly.
Second was the scene at a stopover at Gatarama, on my way to Kigali from Rususa.
A Bujumbura-bound passenger bus with Kenyan registration number plates arrived at the townโs bus park.
From it emerged two middle-aged disabled people, a man and woman.
The bus had not been modified to suit the needs of the physically disabled and so the two really struggled to alight.
The incidents provoked the question: โHow will the EAC federation handle the needs of those with various forms of impairments?โ
This occupied my mind for the remaining hilly, zig-zag but smooth road to Kigali.
Their political representation in EALA and inclusion in development programmes, inaccessible infrastructure, and policies that can enable them to benefit freely from the emerging EAC Common Market bothered me.
Rwanda, a new entrant to the community, has a visually impaired man at EALA, so why do Kenya and Tanzania, for instance, not follow suit?
How can we accelerate focus and harmonisation of disability policies in EAC?
Can the five countries share and learn from each other various issues on disability?
How can such sharing and partnership impact on the overall wellbeing of people with disabilities?
Elly Macha, the executive director of African Blind Union, says disabled people have a lot to learn from women on how to lobby for an enhanced business environment and development policies.
โWomen have seriously engaged EAC. We now have very favourable gender policies, including a desk at the EAC secretariat. They see EAC as a great window of opportunity for business, economic and political empowerment.
โDisabled people, who are among the poorest in the region, cannot afford to be left behind,โ says Dr Macha, herself visually impaired. She is Tanzanian.
Others say that for the disabled to enjoy the opportunities presented by the EAC, the playing field should be levelled.
We need enabling policies and laws, and supporting and inclusive infrastructure without which disabled traders will be disadvantaged.
Mindful of the challenges that face the disabled, Dr Ndahiro is working with the East African Federation of the Disabled and other stakeholders to host the first ever EAC disability summit.
The forum will bring together policy makers in EAC, ministers responsible for disability affairs, parliamentarians, technocrats and activists with disabilities.
It will analyse the socioeconomic and political status of the disabled in East Africa and benchmark best practices.
These include exemplary legal and socioeconomic systems that champion and enforce the rights of the disabled.
Samuel Kabue, the chairperson of the EA disabled federation, says many people in the region are looking forward to an integrated and all inclusive EAC, one that harnesses the potential of everybody.
he writer, a sociologist, has a physical disability. mphitalis@gmail.com
Additional Information
Country: Rwanda
Website: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/686296/-/qx2l7gz/-/
Email: N/A
Phone: N/A
Contact Person: N/A
Source: Email from: MORI, Soya
When: 23/11/2009
