why Persons with disabilities in Kenya risk being left out in county government plans AKA sababu za walemavu kubakia nyuma.

At the top of the new county governments’ ‘To Do’ list, as required by law, is strategic planning. The County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), a provision of the County Governments Act, 2012, is, effectively, the devolved unit’s strategic plan. It ought to show well-defined goals and objectives, a costed implementation plan, framework for monitoring and evaluation, as well as clear reporting mechanisms. It is the CIDP, then, that informs the county’s annual budget. Unfortunately, there is a real danger that persons with disabilities needs will not be adequately factored in the CIDPs and subsequent annual budgets. Those who make public policy decisions in Kenya in the disability sector are afew and may lack relevant technical skills and even persons with disabilities in the public sector are not adequately involved in the processes thus demeaning “Nothing about us with us” The public service commission report 2014 showed that only less than 1 % are employees with disabilities yet its mandatory at list 5 % should be individuals with disabilities. ALIENATING GROUP We must do all we can to ensure that the needs of the persons with disabilities are adequately considered in the county plans. After all, they are the single-largest demographic majority hgroup in Kenya: 15 % of the Kenyan population are persons with disabilities according to world report 2011. To eliminate the possibility of alienating this potentially most productive group, decision makers and other stakeholders at the county level must take deliberate steps to ensure that the persons with disabilities are at the front and centre of development plans. Granted, persons with disabilities in Kenya face many challenges, some of which are, however, not within the mandate of counties. The National Persons with disabilities Policy (2006) plus the national disability action plan 2015 which is under review, identifies two struggles the persons with disabilities face that counties can resolve: Health challenges and limited access to economic opportunities. CIDPs ought to address these. The best way to ensure this is to have persons with disabilities on board. A good starting point would be to deliberately include disability -friendly information formats and channels in information campaigns targeting to educate communities about participation in the county development planning. Access t information is a right and government needs to invest in accessible formats like braille, audio formats etc Any county government interested in reaching to persons with disabilities need to ensure all the time accessible formats are availed. As we head into the second round of devolution in Kenya, county governments and other stakeholders must meaningfully engage the persons with disabilities for programmes and decision making to address their needs by ensuring that they participate in planning.