Senate Grills Ministries as PWD Advocates Decry Years of Neglect in Mombasa

By Clause Masika

The Senate Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare on Thursday sharply criticised the Ministries of Lands and Labour after disability rights advocates from the Coast raised fresh concerns over the continued inaccessibility of public buildings in Mombasa.

The petition was filed by Zedekiah Adika, Chair of the Coast Civil Society Network for Human Rights, who appeared before the Committee alongside Charity Chahasi (Tunaweza CBO), Jerry Hillary (Siasa Place), Conrad Ettyang (Kituo cha Sheria) and Feisal Oketch (Likoni Ability Network).

Adika, speaking on behalf of the petitioners, told senators they were seeking urgent intervention to end what they described as decades of government indifference toward Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

“We filed this petition because her department failed to act. Now she has ignored the Committee too. This conduct continues to dehumanise PWDs in Mombasa,” Adika said.

The session, chaired by Senators Joe Nyutu, Stewart Madzayo, Syengo Mboko and Samson Cherargei, grew tense after the Cabinet Secretary for Lands failed to appear despite being formally summoned. Her absence, without an apology or explanation, angered both senators and petitioners.

Committee members questioned the ministry’s seriousness, while the petitioners accused the CS of reinforcing the very impunity their petition sought to address.

The advocates listed government buildings in Mombasa that remain inaccessible to PWDs, including Bima Towers, the Betting and Control Building, the Uhuru na Kazi Building, the Deputy County Commissioner’s Offices (Mombasa Island), the Mombasa Law Courts and the NEMA Offices on Mombasa Island.

They accused government agencies of spending billions on new housing projects while longstanding accessibility failures in these public facilities remain unresolved.

“For whose benefit are these new houses being built if the current public offices cannot be used by everyone?” they asked, adding that portions of the housing budget had even been diverted to unrelated projects such as markets.

Charity Chahasi- Convenor PwD thematic group of Coast Civil Society Network for Human Rights

A representative from the Labour Ministry told the Committee that regulations under the Persons with Disabilities Act were still being drafted. But the petitioners dismissed this, arguing the ministry could not use its own failure to publish regulations as an excuse for non-enforcement.

“It is the ministry that is mandated to table the regulations. You cannot fail to do your job, then use that failure as justification for inaction,” they said.

Senators demanded clear timelines for compliance with accessibility standards and ordered both the Lands and Labour CSs to reappear in person to explain how their ministries intend to resolve the issues raised.

The petitioners thanked Siasa Place, Kituo cha Sheria and Haki Centre for facilitating their appearance and vowed to keep pushing until persons with disabilities in Mombasa receive the dignity and equal access guaranteed under the law.