Dur­ing my dai­ly brisk walk last Thurs­day morn­ing, I wit­nessed an inci­dent that shook me deeply. Along one of Nairobi’s busy high­ways, I saw a man in a wheel­chair nav­i­gat­ing the uneven pave­ment. Sud­den­ly, his front wheel caught in an open man­hole, and he tum­bled for­ward. I rushed to help him, and as I lift­ed him, he intro­duced him­self as Oti­no, a cob­bler hur­ry­ing to open his shop. With tears in his eyes, he described the dai­ly agony of nav­i­gat­ing such obsta­cles just to make a liv­ing. His pain was raw, and as he spoke, tears streamed down my face too. That moment was a pierc­ing reminder of the dai­ly strug­gles faced by peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties — and the urgent need for change.

Kenya’s 2019 cen­sus shows that 2.2% of the pop­u­la­tion which is about 900,000 peo­ple, live with dis­abil­i­ties, with over 378,000 rely­ing on wheel­chairs or mobil­i­ty aids. For them, nav­i­gat­ing uneven side­walks, open man­holes, and inac­ces­si­ble pub­lic trans­port is a dai­ly bat­tle, often forc­ing them to rely on oth­ers and strip­ping them of their independence.

The chal­lenges extend far beyond phys­i­cal bar­ri­ers. For many, the con­stant strug­gle to access essen­tial ser­vices leads to social iso­la­tion, erod­ing their men­tal well-being. Imag­ine the emo­tion­al toll of liv­ing in a soci­ety where every trip out­side is fraught with dif­fi­cul­ties and indig­ni­ties. Eco­nom­i­cal­ly, the lack of acces­si­ble trans­porta­tion locks many peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties out of employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, per­pet­u­at­ing cycles of pover­ty and depen­dence. This sit­u­a­tion is a stark con­tra­dic­tion to the prin­ci­ples of inclu­siv­i­ty and equal oppor­tu­ni­ty that we aspire to uphold as a nation.

Well, efforts have been made to address these chal­lenges. Var­i­ous ini­tia­tives such as Ace Mobil­i­ty have intro­duced mod­i­fied vehi­cles equipped with ramps and trained dri­vers, pro­vid­ing a life­line to some. How­ev­er, these ser­vices often come at a cost that is out of reach for most Kenyans with dis­abil­i­ties. These iso­lat­ed amaz­ing solu­tions, while com­mend­able, may not address the sys­temic issues that make Kenyan cities so unwel­com­ing for peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties. What we need is not just incre­men­tal change but a trans­for­ma­tive approach that ensures acces­si­bil­i­ty for all.

To cre­ate a Kenya where every­one can move with dig­ni­ty, we must take a mul­ti­fac­eted approach. First, there is an urgent need for strict enforce­ment of acces­si­bil­i­ty stan­dards in urban plan­ning and pub­lic trans­porta­tion. Ramps, con­crete paving, and prop­er­ly main­tained side­walks must become the norm, not the excep­tion. Pub­lic trans­porta­tion sys­tems must be equipped with fea­tures such as low-floor bus­es and wheel­chair-friend­ly board­ing areas, ensur­ing that every­one can trav­el safe­ly and independently.

Sec­ond, pub­lic aware­ness cam­paigns are cru­cial in fos­ter­ing empa­thy and under­stand­ing. These cam­paigns can help shift soci­etal atti­tudes, encour­ag­ing com­mu­ni­ties to view acces­si­bil­i­ty as a col­lec­tive respon­si­bil­i­ty rather than a niche con­cern. By edu­cat­ing peo­ple about the rights and needs of indi­vid­u­als with dis­abil­i­ties, we can break down stereo­types and build a more inclu­sive society.

Third, afford­abil­i­ty is key. Ser­vices like Acces­si­ble Trav­el Kenya, Flone Ini­tia­tive, Go Africa Safaris and Ace Mobil­i­ty and Ace Mobil­i­ty must be sub­si­dized through pub­lic-pri­vate part­ner­ships to make trans­porta­tion acces­si­ble for all. Equal­ly vital is involv­ing real peo­ple liv­ing with dis­abil­i­ties like my new­ly found friend Oti­no in deci­sion-mak­ing because their lived expe­ri­ences are essen­tial for shap­ing effec­tive, inclu­sive policies.

Ulti­mate­ly, this is not just the government’s respon­si­bil­i­ty. Every sec­tor of soci­ety has a role to play — employ­ers must cham­pi­on acces­si­ble work­places, archi­tects must embrace uni­ver­sal design, and civic orga­ni­za­tions must ampli­fy the voic­es of peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties. Togeth­er, we can cre­ate a soci­ety that val­ues and includes everyone.

As I reflect on the inci­dent I wit­nessed, I am struck by its pro­found mes­sage: Oti­no is someone’s father, broth­er, and friend. His fall was more than an acci­dent — it was a sym­bol of how far we still must go as a soci­ety to uphold the dig­ni­ty of all. How much longer must such strug­gles con­tin­ue? Let’s act now to cre­ate a Kenya where every­one moves with dig­ni­ty and ease. Think green, act green!