People with disabilities to get bursaries in Murang'a

@Alicewangechi

The Murang’a county government will start issuing bursaries to people  with disabilities starting next year.

In principle, needy people  with disabilities are eligible for bursaries but they have to compete  with other students. Many parentschoose not to educate their children with disabilities. 

From January, all applicants with disabilities  will benefit as long as they have a card from the council for disabled ed persons and from the National Council for Persons with Disabilities' that will be attached to their bursary application documents.

The county government will embark on a mass registration of all  persons with disabilities to ensure they are assessed for the card.

“I am asking the county Executive Committee Member for Social Services to ensure they are registered starting from August so they can have their cards ready by January next year for the bursaries.”

Speaking at Murang’a Level 5 hospital during the distribution of assistive devices to hundreds of people  with disabilities on Tuesday, Kanga’ta said that the bursary programme will ensure they access education.

This, he said, will give them a chance to become financially independent in the future.

He said people with disabilities can excel in various fields if accorded the necessary support, citing the example of the late American scientist Stephen Hawking who discovered at 21 years that he suffered from a degenerative disease that would eventually leave him disabled.

“Despite his sickness, Hawking went on to become one of the greatest scientists and even discovered the presence of black holes. He went on to live to the age of 76 yet doctors had only given him a few years,” the governor said.

Murang’a county has a population of 102,527 people with various disabilities. according to the Kenya National Population and Housing Census conducted in 2019.

This accounts for 9.7 percent of the total county population, with 37,260 have mobility issues. while 20,820 have visual disabilities and 53.9 percent of them being below the age of 14.

Mary Wangari who was born with one weak leg praised the county for implementing programmes geared towards supporting them, saying they struggle to go about their daily activities.

Wangari urged the county government to consider rehabilitating Muriranjas Training Centre that equips disabled persons with technical skills.

“The facility is in a bad shape yet it’s the only facility that focuses on people living with disabilities. The dorms have worn out equipment and should be supported with more equipmen.”

Further, Wangari said the  majority of them suffer when their assistive devices get worn out; she urged the governor to consider establishing a repairing plant.

In 2016, the county assembly passed Murang’a County Persons with Disabilities Bill that called for the creation of a board to champion their interests, including implementation of schemes and projects that would create employment.

The board would also make provisions for assistance to students with disabilities in the form of scholarships, loan programmes and subsidies among others.

Deputy Governor Stephen Munania said the county government had made major strides in streamlining the health sector by digitising hospitals’ systems.

The digital system, he said, makes it easy for doctors to treat patients as they can access their medical history.

It also makes it possible to monitor the number of patients being treated in facilities and most prevalent diseases.

“Like today, we can see Murang’a Level Five hospital has treated 420 patients and 122 others are in waiting bays."

"But since the inception of the free NHIF Programme that benefits 20,000 families, Munania said the facility that previously treated about 800 daily has been overwhelmed as it currently treats as many as  1,200 people.