Senate seeks more help for disabled

Following a petition filed by the National Federation of Persons Living with Disabilities (FENAPH, the Senate on Thursday summoned and quizzed Christine Nyatanyi, the State Minister in charge of social welfare. The federation had filed the petition seeking the House’s intervene in the implementation of a law establishing the federation. The association had also requested for assistance from the government and claimed that at the moment they do not receive any. “Senators also wanted to know what government was doing to boost the social welfare of the disabled,” a statement from the Senate reads. According to the statement, Nyatanyi told Senators that her Ministry has put in place several measures to assist them including financing their trainings and ensuring the physically impaired participate in decision making. “With the help of the National Institute for Statistics and the Ministry of Health, we are preparing a country census of the disabled and categorizing them; we will use these statistics to distribute logistical support,” the statement quotes Nyatanyi as saying. She added that the Ministry of Education has come up with a special program aimed at integrating children with special needs into ordinary schools to protect them from social stigma. However, despite her explanation, members of the Upper Chamber maintained that the government has not put in place concrete measures to assist the disabled. They also questioned how the government came up with the national policy for assisting the disabled yet there were no statistics to indicate their numbers. “Senators are requesting the government to come up with actual plans for the disabled especially those in rural areas,” reads the statement. Senators also requested the government to recognize the disabled federation as a State organ and allocate a budget to assist it in its daily activities. Meanwhile, during the Thursday session, Senators approved Bernadette Kanzayire as the Deputy Ombudsman. Kanzayire who was had been a member of the Lower Chamber was recently appointed by the cabinet meeting as a replacement for Immaculee Mukamurangwa who was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Parliament. The Senators also approved Ildéphonse Niyonsenga as the new Executive Secretary of the Fund for Support of Genocide Survivors (FARG). Ends