The National Council of People with Disabilities on Tuesday denied it had misappropriated Sh400 million allocated to it by the Gender ministry.

The chairman of the council’s Board of Trustees, Mr Geoffrey Mwathigo, said about Sh325 million had been disbursed to groups in the last two years.

He said Sh70 million went to community-based organisations, Sh3 million for scholarships, Sh98 million to learning institutions and Sh12 million set out to service providers.

Other beneficiaries from the kitty included universities and national organisations that got Sh92 million, while Sh25 million was spent on social protection and National Development Fund Investment, which received Sh25 million. The money was disbursed by the Ministry of Gender.

But the explanation was immediately challenged by the Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped (KSMH), which has accused the council of misappropriating the funds.

“We received a proposal from KSMH but it did not meet the guidelines and released Sh1 million to them which they rejected,” Mr Mwathigo said.

However, Ms Edah Maina the KSMH chief executive told Nation the Sh400 million was meant for disabled people to set up businesses and not what the NCPWD has spent it on.

“The money should have gone directly to the people who need it and we want to know where it is and why we have not received it,” she said.

Further, Ms Maina blamed the Gender ministry for holding on to Sh700 million allocated by Treasury for the mentally-handicapped and elderly persons.

“This is totally unethical and is being done to frustrate persons with mental disabilities, which clearly shows the strong discrimination against them and their families,” she said.

Ms Maina added that the society will today carry on with demonstrations it had planned last week against the ministry.

NCPWD, which runs and manages the funds, dismissed calls for the demonstrations, saying that funds it had got were well spent.