Thika MP asks Counties to prioritise people with disabilities
Thika Town Member of Parliament(MP) Patrick Wainaina has called on county governments to give special preference to people living with disabilities (PWDs) in order to ease the hardships they face during the Covid-19 period.
Noting that few people think of the challenges and economic hardships that the disabled go through, the legislator said there is a need to empower them by making deliberate efforts to boost their incomes.
Wainaina noted that the physically challenged are at a high risk of contracting the coronavirus since many of them do not wash their hands and crawl on the ground most of the time.
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He said in the face of Covid-19, people living with disabilities require more attention from the authorities and society to make their lives bearable and proposed that county authorities introduce waiver of fees for those operating in public markets.
"For instance, counties should have special areas for PWDs at public markets or matatu stages for them to sell their wares and earn a decent living," the MP added.
Wainaina was speaking at Mitero village in Gatundu North, Kiambu County when he presented wheel chairs to families with physically challenged members.
Some of the beneficiaries of the 30 wheelchairs donated by Jungle Afya Foundation were children with severe celebral palsy conditions.
At the same time, the MP asked parents not to hide their handicapped children from the public, saying this was a great disservice to the young ones.
"If you confine your physically challenged children at home nobody will notice that there's a problem and they may never get any assistance," Wainaina said.
The beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to the MP and appealed to other well-wishers to act on their plight.
