The world is increasingly becoming more open and informed thanks to the power of the internet.  Anyone who lacks information about her/his own self and the environment (social, political and economic) ends up with a lot of suffering.  Other people take advantage of ignorance and decide the fate of persons who have no access to information.
This is precisely the case for persons with intellectual disabilities and their families.  In Kenya, there is no government machinery to provide relevant and useful information to this sector of the population.  Considering that persons with intellectual disabilities and their families form almost 20% of the population, it is a huge disenfranchisement.  Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped is trying over a number of years to fill this huge void.

The lack of information is there on all fronts.  One of the key areas is the electoral process.  In this regard, KSMH made huge gains – getting the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities to register and vote in national elections recognised during the 2007 elections where 664 persons with intellectual disabilities voted for the first time in Kenya’s history.  

The Society consolidated these gains during the August 2010 Referendum on the New
Constitution.  Having sorted out initial difficulties with the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC), KSMH managed to register almost 1.5 million adults with intellectual disabilities as voters.  However, only 10% of the 1.5 registered voters with intellectual disabilities actually voted since they still faced barriers at the polling stations.  KSMH is working now on programmes to make further gains by removing such barriers.

One major impediment to getting right information for persons with intellectual disabilities is the complete lack of information in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) format.  For the first time in Kenya, KSMH used this method to impart civic education before the referendum and it made a huge impact as can be seen from the number of persons with intellectual disabilities who actually voted. The Society is now in the process of providing more and more information to persons with intellectual disabilities in AAC formats.

AAC is also the key in the legal processes.  For example, the police can get information directly from persons with intellectual disabilities by using AAC.  It must also be used in courts and recognized officially as the right medium of communications for persons with intellectual disabilities.