Kenya has enacted the new Persons with Disabilities Act 2025 which was signed into law by President William Ruto on May 8th 2025. We wish to salute all persons who worked to push for this new law that showers a lot of hope in regards to matters disability inclusive development. My utmost thanks go to the sponsor of this bill Senator Asige.
The biggest challenge we often have in Kenya is not lack of laws or policies as such but the lack of ability to work towards implementing them. It is perhaps more accurate to say that for the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 to have impact on disability inclusive development, we must rethink more about a viable commitment framework at all levels starting from counties to the national government that will make it work and serve the society at large. We must also ensure that all stakeholders are enjoined in this journey of making Kenya the best disability inclusive country in Africa.
Fundamentally, the best way to support Persons with Disabilities Act 2025 is to go to the ground and support the key pointers of acts that relate to our context. We must build positive attitude around the act so as to ensure that inclusion of person with disabilities is supported as per the law. We need to use this act to redefine the true meaning of inclusion and leaving no one behind which are often said than done. Synergy must there start from government agencies, employers, educators, and healthcare providers, to actively implement the provisions of the laws.
Importantly, I highly recommend that citizens should be empowered to drive onwards the agenda of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025. Citizens are ordinary people with extra ordinary powers to make things happens. A citizen driven process should be employed in activating the provisions of the act. The new laws is an outcome of political process thus; its scaling should equally not shy from embracing the democratic lens through allowing meaningful participation.
At Promoters of Social Inclusion, we are looking forward to championing deliberative workshops to ensure meaningful participation takes place in the implementations of the new Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025. Our workshops will be designed to provide practical tools on various disability-related issues, support the implementation of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 by focusing at the grassroots communities who are often affected most.
Finally, the new Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 offers rays of hope and good practices in regards to disability inclusive development. Together let us embrace it to fight the injustice that may affect persons with disabilities in Kenya and beyond.
Copyright ©2025 by William Tolbert. Photo credit: