The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025, which was enacted in May last year, shifted the disability inclusion discourse in Kenya. Over the years, our laws have acknowledged the right of persons with disabilities to work, but that was not always followed by employment. The new Act takes inclusion from goodwill to obligation. Now, 17 months later, it's not a question of what the law says, but whether employers, training institutions and young people looking for work are prepared to implement it.
Poverty and disability go hand in hand in Kenya. A young person with a disability is more likely to drop out of school, less likely to develop a marketable skill and more likely to be passed over even when they are qualified, at the interview stage. This leaves a big talent pool out of the economic game and families with outstanding costs that a salary might have alleviated.
Economic empowerment is not a welfare matter! It's a productivity problem. When someone is able to work and they aren't working, it's lost output, lost tax revenue and lost innovation. This is recognisedin the Act which puts employment at the heart of disability rights.
The biggest change is the reservation for jobs. Employers (public or private) who employ 20 or more people are obligated to set aside at least five per cent of their jobs for persons with disabilities. Before
the repealed 2003 Act, this was mainly an objective for the casual and contractual jobs. It is now legally binding and for direct employment.
In addition to the quota, employers are not permitted to discriminate against a person on the basis of their disability in their recruitment, promotion or termination. They are required to create policies and programmes to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities and to make reasonable adjustments, such as workplace, equipment and work arrangement changes, that enable an employee to do their job to the best of their ability.
Employers are also required to submit a report to the National Council for Persons with
Disabilities each year to report on their progress. The Act also provides for employees with disabilities to retire five years earlier than the standard retirement age, and an assistive allowance to assist persons with disabilities to cover the extra cost of having a personal assistant, specialised transport or communication aids.
Many employers think that it is costly to accommodate. In fact, the majority of adjustments are relatively small: a ramp, screen reading software, flexible hours or sign language interpreting for important meetings. The Act further cuts down such costs with tax incentives. Employers may claim deductions on payment of salary to a person with a disability, expenses of modifying the workplace, expenses of providing assistive technology and reasonable accommodation.
The first step for employers who are ready to take action is to have a workforce audit. Determine the number of employees with disabilities (including those who may not have disclosed) and compare this to the five per cent target. Then, check on recruitment practices. Job posts, application platforms and interview methods should be accessible, not discriminatory, as many qualified applicants are turned away from the process due to accessibility issues.
It's also critical to train managers and HR personnel. Often it is not when people are recruited that they are not included, but when the employee is working with a line manager who has no idea on how to support them. Most of these problems are avoided by a short and practical training programme. Employers must also work with the NCPWD and disability groups who can assist them in finding qualified candidates and offer guidance on suitable accommodations. Lastly, accessibility needs to be considered a normal cost of doing business and planned for and budgeted accordingly, and employers need to work with their tax adviser to ensure that they are claiming the tax incentives that are available under the law.
For young people with disabilities, the law is now on your side, but it is best to know how to use it. Register with the NCPWD, which is the first step to many of the benefits and tax reliefs offered by the Act. Be sure to keep your paperwork up-to-date and indicate on applications what reasonable accommodations you may require. You have a legal right to be accommodated and not a favour.
Don't overlook other work opportunities, either. The route into self-employment and enterprise is still strong. Youth with disabilities can learn about the business support available from the National Fund for Persons with Disabilities and can register their businesses to avail of government procurement opportunities for youth, women and persons with disabilities, under Access to Government Procurement Opportunities programme.
If employers are unable to recruit candidates with the necessary skills, then a five per cent target is not very significant. This is where vocational training is the difference-maker. While the Tvet institutions, vocational rehabilitation centres and county youth polytechnics in Kenya are well positioned to equip youth with disabilities with employment readiness skills, they must be accessible to achieve this.
There are a number of opportunities that should be considered. The focus of inclusive Tvet programmes should be on areas of high market demand like ICT, digital marketing, tailoring, agribusiness, hospitality and electrical and
solar installation. The skills of digital and remote work, such as data entry, transcription, virtual assistant and graphic design, in particular, are promising, as they can alleviate the transport and physical access barriers many persons with disabilities encounter. Joint training and placement arrangements with employers through apprenticeships and industrial attachments can guarantee training and employment. In addition to these, AT training should be embedded in programmes to enable learners to confidently use AT such as screen readers, speech-to-text and adapted equipment when they get to work.
Training institutions to self-evaluate accessibility, train trainers on inclusive teaching, and monitor employment outcomes of graduates with disabilities. If it can't be measured, it can't be improved.
Kenya has a solid legal basis with the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025. But success will
be measured in results: the number of young people with disabilities who are offered an offer letter, the number of employers who report full compliance, and the number of training graduates who enter into decent work.
It will take a team to accomplish. Government needs to be on top of the law and ensure that incentives are readily available. Employers need to go beyond compliance to true inclusion. Skills need to be developed that match the market in training institutions.
Young people with disabilities need to be prepared and empowered to take their seat. The opportunity lies in the open. Persons with disabilities earn an income when they work, but they also bring to the workplace other valuable contributions. They add value, influence and inspire the thinking of our workplaces.
Director, National Council for Persons with Disability
