With about one week remaining before the closure of the mass voter registration, Likuyani sub county chairman for people living with disabilities Mr. Moses Nanjukhi has urged parents and guardians taking care of the disabled to ensure all those who have national identification cards are enlisted as voters.
Speaking in Kongoni ward, Nanjukhi said a disabled person’s vote was equally important as any other normal person’s vote and therefore they must be given opportunity to exercise their democratic rights.
He regretted that leaders from the area had done nothing to help the disabled since the registration exercise kicked off on 4th October, 2021.
“We have so many people living with disabilities and who can’t move to the registration center though they have IDs but no leader seems to care about them,” said Nanjukhi.
The chairman sent an appeal to the community to stop discriminating against physically and mentally challenged persons but instead exhibit care and love besides ensuring their rights were fully observed adding that their handicaps should not be used as an excuse to discriminate them.
He dismissed peddled beliefs that the handicapped were valueless arguing that their deficiencies could be harnessed to the full if given equal opportunities with the rest.
“It isn’t anyone’s wish to be born with disability. But it is a crime to deny such a person his or her rights,” said Nanjukhi.
At the same time Nanjukhi challenged the disabled persons with leadership ambitions to openly come out and declare interest in various elective positions in the next general elections.
He said the fact that constitution had created special seats for disabled persons does not imply they have completely been shut out from other positions.

“Instead of jostling for the few seats set aside to them by the constitution they should consider running for the country’s topmost seats including the presidency, gubernatorial and senatorial,” he added
The official urged all disabled countrywide to align themselves to top political parties of choice and also boost chances of colleagues seeking elective positions to emerge victorious by registering in large numbers as voters, adding that such was the only way to make their presence felt in the next government, both at national and county levels.