Senate Committee Demands Action for Persons with Invisible Disabilities
Caption: Nominated Senator Crystal Asige
A critical session of the Senate Committee on Labor and Social Welfare, chaired by the Vice Chairperson Crystal Asige on Wednesday, addressed the long-standing neglect faced by persons with invisible disabilities.
According to a social media post by Senator Asige, the meeting, spurred by a compelling petition from Beatrice Likwop, aimed to bring to light the systemic challenges encountered by individuals whose disabilities are not outwardly apparent.
She shared that Beatrice Likwop, a resilient Person With Disability (PWD) battling status epilepticus, bradycardia, and fibromyalgia, had a decade-long ordeal of misdiagnosis, medical gaslighting, and social exclusion.
Her testimony highlighted how her multiple, non-visible disabilities have historically been overlooked by national disability frameworks. "Her lived reality had no place in our national disability frameworks—until now," stated the vice chairperson, emphasizing the committee's commitment to giving her voice the platform it deserved.
The petition prompted an urgent dialogue, with the Committee summoning the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and the Council of Governors (COG) to account for the ongoing challenges faced by persons with invisible disabilities, including those with epilepsy, mental health conditions, autism, and fibromyalgia. These individuals, the Committee highlighted, continue to be omitted from official registration and classification systems, absent from data used to inform public health planning, excluded from critical social protection services, burdened with high out-of-pocket costs for medication and care, and misunderstood and mistreated by police, healthcare workers, and society at large.
In response, CS Hon. Aden Duale acknowledged the issue, outlining several existing policy tools. These include the 2022 Disability Medical Assessment and Categorization Guideline, the ongoing rollout of the Social Health Authority (SHA), and various health worker training and community awareness programs.
However, the vice chairperson, while acknowledging that invisible disabilities are now "fully recognized and protected" for the first time in legislation through the newly enacted Persons with Disabilities Act 2025, underscored that these policies "still aren't being felt on the ground."
The committee was unequivocal in its stance, asserting that the current measures are insufficient. They firmly reminded both ministries of the demand for "stronger accountability frameworks, enforceable timelines, and clear implementation pathways to ensure no person with an invisible disability is left behind."
"This is not about sympathy. It’s about justice, inclusion, and equity," declared the vice chairperson. "We will not allow another decade of silence. We will not allow more lives to fall through the cracks." The Committee affirmed its unwavering commitment to continue its efforts "until policy meets people where they are—and until every Kenyan, regardless of how their disability presents, is counted, cared for, and protected.
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