Asige Champions Landmark Disability Rights Law, Urges Media to Foster an Inclusive Kenya

Asige Champions Landmark Disability Rights Law, Urges Media to Foster an Inclusive Kenya

Senator Crystal Asige briefs journalists in Nairobi on Wednesday during a media forum on the new Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025, which seeks to advance inclusion and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.

By Jeff Oyugi

Nairobi– November 12, 2025

Senator and musician Samantha Asige is redefining leadership in Kenya, championing inclusion and accountability after spearheading the landmark Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025, a law set to transform lives nationwide.

Speaking at a media sensitization forum in Nairobi, Asige who is visually impaired shared her personal journey, legislative triumphs and vision for an inclusive Kenya where disability is not treated as a limitation, but as part of the country's diversity.

"Disability itself does not discriminate. It's people and systems that do," she said.“My hope is that the media and society will help us create a new story one that acknowledges people with disabilities as whole human beings, not as a single story or pity act.”

The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 replaces the 2003 law, introducing far-reaching reforms to promote equality, accessibility and empowerment for the more than 960,000 Kenyans living with disabilities.

Among its most transformative provisions, the new law recognizes neurodiversity for the first time, protecting individuals with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other neurodevelopmental conditions, mandates inclusion in the workplace, requiring that organizations with at least 20 employees hire at least one person with a disability, supported by tax incentives and workplace accommodations, reserves 5% of government housing projects for persons with disabilities, with interest-free, long-term repayment plans, extends the retirement age for persons with disabilities from 60 to 65 years, allowing them to build meaningful careers and savings and outlaws the exploitation of persons with disabilities through begging, with offenders facing up to two years in prison.

The law also introduces digital accessibility standards for all public and private websites, social media platforms and online services, making Kenya one of the first African countries to legally mandate universal design for the digital age.

Asige highlighted persistent challenges in tax exemption renewals for persons with disabilities, calling the current process "disparaging and disingenuous.”

She criticized bureaucratic delays by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) that have forced many to lose their tax benefits for over a year while waiting for reassessments.

"Why should someone who is blind, deaf or has a permanent condition have to prove their disability every five years?" she asked. "We must end this humiliation. The Act now guarantees lifetime tax exemption for those with permanent disabilities.”

Parents and caregivers of persons with disabilities will also, for the first time, be eligible for tax exemptions, easing the financial burden of care.

Addressing journalists, editors and media executives, Asige emphasized the vital role of the media in transforming societal attitudes toward disability.

Under the new law, all broadcasters are now required to provide at least one hour of free airtime every month for disability awareness and education, ensure all content includes captions, audio descriptions and alt text for accessibility and maintain inclusive workspaces, employing journalists and producers with disabilities both on and off screen.

"Inclusion isn't charity it's a communication right," Asige said. "Diverse teams tell better stories. Every newsroom in Kenya should reflect the society it serves.”

She challenged editors to create content that moves beyond stereotypes of pity and tragedy.

"Imagine a weekly segment called Beyond the Label, where we showcase innovators, artists and entrepreneurs with disabilities not as objects of sympathy, but as agents of change," she suggested.

Despite legislative progress, Asige raised alarm over what she described as a "statistical erasure" of persons with disabilities.

Kenya's 2019 census recorded 960,692 persons with disabilities, a sharp decline from 1.3 million in 2009, despite overall population growth. The senator questioned the reliability of the data, noting that children under five were excluded from the count.

"Where are the 413,000 persons with disabilities missing from our census records?" she asked. "If we are not counted, we do not count.”

She is now lobbying for a Special National Disability Census, estimated to cost KSh 1 billion, to ensure accurate data for policy, budgeting and resource allocation.

Asige urged Kenyans to confront "ableism" a mindset that frames disability as inferiority.

"Before we build physical ramps, we must build mental ramps," she said. "We must stop seeing inclusion as a favor and start seeing it as a national norm.”

She credited the overwhelming support her law has received from the Head of State, Chief Justice, civil society and international partners but warned that implementation, not applause, would define its success.

"This Act is not a trophy to be admired. It is a tool to be applied," she said. "We must now organize ourselves and ensure that every Kenyan with a disability enjoys the dignity of being seen, heard and included.”

Asige revealed plans to establish Disability Resource and Inclusion Centers across the country to support education, healthcare and employment for persons with disabilities.

Through her Luna Foundation, she intends to collaborate with media, government and advocacy groups to equip storytellers with the tools for inclusive communication.

"Change begins with awareness and practice," she concluded. "If we can secure these partnerships, we will return here in a year to celebrate progress not promises.

The key Highlights of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 are recognition of neurodiversity under Kenyan law, mandatory workplace inclusion that is 1 in 20 employees, 5% reservation in housing projects for PWDs, lifetime tax exemption for permanent disabilities, tax relief for caregivers and parents, extended retirement age to 65, digital accessibility as a legal requirement, criminalization of using PWDs for begging and one hour per month mandatory media airtime for disability awareness

Asige's message to Kenya is clear, the future of inclusion lies not in sympathy, but in systems and not in words, but in action.