An alarm has been raised over a rise in cases of persons living with disabilities from Tanzania being used by some individuals as beggars in Kitale town.
The coordinator of persons living with disabilities at the Catholic Diocese of Kitale, Scolastica Ingotsi, said the vice is on the rise where unsuspecting residents give handouts to the beggars in a get-rich-quick scheme.
“We have noted a rise in the cases of begging by foreigners from Tanzania who frequent Kitale town with some coming from as far as Eldoret. They remit all the proceeds of the day to their masters,” Ingotsi said.
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She said the menace has created a bad impression where each person who is living with a physical disability is deemed to be a beggar despite a spirited economic empowerment campaign that has seen most of them venture into business.
“This impression is wrong since the Catholic Church in Trans Nzoioa has plaid a huge role in having supporting people living with disabilities through socioeconomic empowerment initiatives,” she spoke at Goseta in Kwanza constituency.
She also took issue with failure by public health facilities to stock medicine for the management of health conditions by patients who are living with disabilities despite the church having enrolled a good number of them under the National Hospital Insurance Fund NHIF.
The group has also called on the government to ensure all buildings in the region are disability compliant to ensure their members have easy access to the services being offered by various offices or shops.
"We always face it rough when we try to access services, especially in government premises since they don’t have special pathways for people living with disabilities. This hinders us from getting services,” she said.
