The Senate Ad Hoc Committee that’s pushing for compensation to the Kenyan victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing has directed the National Council of Persons with Disabilities to be proactive in registering all the people with disabilities in the country so that Kenya can have an updated database. 

This comes after the Executive Director of the Council, Mr. Harun Hassan, informed the Honorable Senators that only a handful of the terror attack victims are registered with the Council making them lose out on the benefits that registered members are entitled to. 

While meeting with the National Council for Persons with Disabilities leadership at Parliament Buildings earlier today, the Members of the Ad Hoc Committee were appalled to learn that persons with disabilities are required to walk to the Council’s Headquarters in Nairobi to be registered and pledged to push for the funding of the agency. 

“Some persons with disabilities have difficulty moving from one place to another. There’s no way you can tell a person in a wheelchair in Baringo to come all the way to Nairobi to register. You, the Council, need to find a way of registering these people in the comfort of their homes,” Baringo Senator William Cheptumo said. 

“There’s no way one staff of the council can serve all the people with disabilities in a county. We, as the Senate, need to support the agency by advocating for their funding during the Supplementary Budget,” Uasin Gichu Senator Jackson Mandago, who is the Vice Chairperson of the Committee, added. 

On his part, Mr Harun pleaded with the Senate to pass The Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2023, so that there can be a clear framework to fund the Council, which will, in turn, help them to partner with county governments to register persons with disabilities across the country.  

“The funds that we’re given are not adequate to traverse the whole country for registration. I urge the Senate to pass the Bill so that we can mainstream the issues of disabilities in the country,” Mr Hassan said. 

The Senator Agnes Kavindu-led Committee and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities resolved to work together to ensure the Kenyan victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing are registered with the agency.