English, childcare, and transport: The barriers keeping women with disabilities from tax relief

By  Moraa Obiria

Senior Gender Journalist

What you need to know:

• Having a disability certificate qualifies holders for income tax exemption on the first Sh150,000 earned per month, or Sh1.8 million annually, for those in formal employment. 

Lydia Digo knows what it takes for a deaf woman to obtain a disability certificate.

As founder of Elite Deaf, a community-based organisation advocating for the rights of deaf people in Kisumu East sub-county, she has worked with women navigating the assessment process required for disability certification.

Having a disability certificate qualifies holders for income tax exemption on the first Sh150,000 earned per month, or Sh1.8 million annually, for those in formal employment. 

It also opens the door to business permit fee waivers, government tenders, the five per cent employment quota reserved for persons with disabilities, cash transfers, bursaries and other benefits.

Combined barriers

But being deaf and lacking formal education adds another layer of difficulty to obtaining the assessment required for certification.

“Usually, the educated deaf woman knows how to explain themselves to get the assessment,” she said

“But those who are uneducated and from rural areas where they have no information about the process, it becomes difficult for them to explain their needs and navigate the system.”

She said assessments have since last year been decentralised to sub-county level facilities, but many women still struggle to access them because of poverty and childcare responsibilities.

Lydia said that of the 40 deaf women she has worked with, 98 per cent were raising children single-handedly.

“It’s very hard to get a deaf woman with a strong support system because they still have to live like everyone else in society. They look after their children, so they go with their children,” she said.

“But remember, these are women who survive on casual jobs such as domestic work. If they go today and miss the doctor, and then return tomorrow and face the same problem, they will not go a third day because they have to find work to feed themselves.”

The numbers 

Women accounted for 57 per cent of the 916,692 persons with disabilities counted in Kenya’s 2019 census.

Data from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis  show that women with disabilities are more likely to be self-employed than their male counterparts, with 30.3 per cent working for themselves compared with 26 per cent of men. 

This means that access to a disability certificate, which is required to benefit from business permit fee waivers and other government incentives, could have a particularly significant impact on women’s livelihoods.

The employment gap is also evident in the formal sector. An analysis of 88 public institutions by the National Gender and Equality Commission found that only 638 women with disabilities were employed, compared with 1,190 men.

Costs beyond reach

In Kakamega County, Lucy Mulombi, chairperson of the Kakamega County Union of Persons with Disabilities, shared a similar story. She said the costs attached to disability assessment are often beyond the reach of many women.

“Disability assessments are conducted at Level Four facilities, which are often located far from where women live. From my home to the nearest facility, transport costs Sh300 each way. That's Sh600 for a return trip. Where will a woman with a disability in a rural area get that money?” she asked.

A 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics report on gender dimensions found that of the 108,749 children with disabilities aged between five and 17 attending school, 53.9 per cent were boys compared with 46.1 per cent girls. 

The report also revealed high levels of economic inactivity among women with disabilities. 

Those with mobility difficulties were the most affected, with 77.5 per cent not engaged in any economic activity, followed by women with communication difficulties at 76.2 per cent and cognitive difficulties at 68.8 per cent. 

The numbers were also high among women with hearing difficulties, at 62.8 per cent, and those with visual difficulties, at 60.6 per cent.

Shortage of interpreters and equipment

Yet getting to the assessment facility is only one hurdle.

Lucy said assessments are conducted by a panel of three doctors, and when one of the required specialists is unavailable, applicants are asked to return another day.

“We’ve had women with physical disabilities arrive in wheelchairs, carrying their children, only to be told to come back another day. They simply give up,” she said.
She also pointed to the shortage of sign language interpreters and the limited availability of specialised hearing assessments.

For example, she said the Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA) test used in hearing assessments is not available in Kakamega, forcing women to travel to Kapsabet or Nairobi.

According to the statistics agency data, there are more women with hearing disabilities in Kenya, at 85,728, than men, at 67,626.

The challenge of accessing hearing assessments is one that Ann Gloria Njoki, founder of the Deaf Outreach Program has witnessed first-hand in Embu County.

“Not every hospital has an audiometer, the machine used in hearing assessments. As a result, some women are forced to seek services at distant facilities or private hospitals for a service that should be available free in a government facility,” she said.

Ann said that for years they partnered with a private hospital to provide audiometry tests because nearby public hospitals did not have the equipment needed to conduct them. The tests cost Sh1,500.
Disability certification process 

To obtain a disability certificate, applicants must first secure a report from a government hospital, explained Duncan Chengo, a director and board member of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and president of the Kenya Occupational Therapists Association.

“That report is produced by a group of assessors. Every Level Four hospital is expected to have a disability assessment panel,” he said.

“That disability panel is composed of different clinical specialists and is chaired by an appointee of the medical superintendent. Every person with a disability must appear before that committee for evaluation.”

Once the assessment documents are issued, they are uploaded through the eCitizen platform and verified at sub-county, county, and national levels before a certificate is issued, he said.

While the process is intended to be free, Duncan acknowledged that applicants often incur costs.

He said that some specialised tests required during assessment are not available in public facilities, forcing applicants to seek them elsewhere before returning with authenticated results.

Sign language is not English

For deaf women, however, the greatest challenge is often communication, Anne said.

Ann said hospitals fail to provide sign language interpreters, leaving the deaf to hire their own.

“The greatest need in the hospital setup is an interpreter. Hiring one can cost more than Sh2,000, excluding transport and other expenses,” she said.

She also challenged the common assumption that writing can replace sign language.

“There is always that assumption that deaf people can read and write, so why not communicate through reading and writing? But sign language is not the same as English,” she said.

“The doctor will write in English, but the client will not comprehend what has been written. That is a breakdown of communication. Most medical terminologies do not even have signs, so communication gaps emerge immediately.”

Different approach 

Meanwhile, disability advocates in Kakamega are trying a different approach to ease the burden of registration.

Lucy said that through the Jumuisha Project, implemented by the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya under the Consortium of Disabled Persons Organisations of Kenya, they have trained community champions. 

These champions conduct village dialogues to educate residents about disability assessments and the benefits of registration.

“The programme also conducts mass disability assessment and registration exercises in sub-counties across the county, bringing together the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Health and disability organisations,” she said.

So far, the initiative has conducted registration drives in Malava, Navakholo and Khwisero sub-counties.

But one challenge remains.

“We know where the women with disabilities are, but there is still no transport to take them to where there is registration and disability assessment,” Lucy said.