By Grace Wamaitha, DevReporter, Nakuru County
As Kenyans prepare for the general elections in August 2022, it is necessary to consider that women with disabilities are more vulnerable to political violence. Most reported cases of sexual offenses with respect to Kenya’s post-election violence during the disputed presidential election of 2007, are yet to be addressed conclusively.
Imagine an emergency situation such as fire or landslide when evacuation is a must, yet you are or know of a PWD, it is not humanely comfortable to run for life and leave behind such a person especially where one has to be assisted to move.
As we walk through the slum of Manyani, Nakuru county, we come across leaky walls and roofs, crowded homes and dirty floors. Here we meet Alice, a PWD and a mother of three. Alice narrates how she survived tortured while pregnant.
“I walked to Manyani and heard how pregnant women were being tortured, women were penetrated using sticks, bottles and other objects, an experience that left me puzzled,“ says Alice .
Few meters from her home, Jane (not her real name), a survivor of the 2007 Post Election violence says., “I was left confused in the middle of the chaos with my children, with nowhere to go. After gaining back consciousness, I ran to a nearby church, and in the process, saved my life.
“I was born in the slums but the slum was not born in me” said Jane, further noting that the voices of vulnerable groups during the electioneering period are always silenced.
Women PWDs however remain hopeful for peaceful elections, even as the sun sets steadily towards the 9th August 2022.
Impacts of Gangs on Communities
Hotspot for crime in Nakuru County are found in slum settlements such as Bondeni and Kaptembwo. These are slums with high rates of unemployment, which lead to idleness, theft and rape cases are high.
Politically fueled tribalism and “slum wars” between Gaza and other gangs such as Confirm, have been identified as major contributors to negative ethnicity, affecting 65-70% women PWDs in urban slums and rural areas, with killings carried out on the basis of differences in political affiliation.
According to Midrift Hurinet, the government should empower the youths with relevant vocational skills in order to be more self-sufficient. Studies also show that 40-70% of youth, 18 years of age living in these slums are sexually abused.
Disability Inclusion Overview
The Disability Act, 2003, elaborates the rights and privileges of PWDs to realise equal opportunities. The Act has made it possible for the creation of the National Council of Persons With Disabilities as a statutory organ to oversee their welfare.
Between 2016/17 and 2020/21 the state department of social protection earmarked Kshs.9 billion for programmes that promote inclusion and empowerment of PWDs. These funds went to the National Development Fund for PWDs, but reduced significantly by 72.7% in the second supplementary budget of 2019/20 due to the covid-19 pandemic in Kenya
Causes Of Violence
Ethnicity and Animosity are factors of the foregoing and were some of the major causes of the 2007 post-election violence. It has been argued that ethnic loyalty and coherence has been a central feature in Kenyan politics since independence.
Electoral Violence
In 2007 cycle of violence was ignited by the disputed re-election of the late former president Mwai Kibaki, which results were hotly disputed by the opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement, (ODM).
EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE
People Displacement
Violence leads to many problems including the displacement of the People. The violence of 2007 led to hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. Many for example fled their homes fearing attacks from other tribes. For instance in the Rift Valley, reports indicate that the Kalenjin attacked kikuyus and PNU supporters, forcing them to move.
Development
There cannot be meaningful development where insecurity is the order of the day. Chaos, anarchy and insecurity have been the causes of wide-spread nature of violence in Kenya, with women, especially PWDs bearing the greater brunt.
