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Everyone has a right to be represented in the democratic society by a person of their own choice. It follows that the democratic processes themselves must be such that they respect diversity and provide reasonable accommodation for that representation in government. This area is totally neglected in planning of the governments. In Kenya now, with the adaptation of a new constitution, many of these areas are finally entrenched in this new constitution. One of the biggest gains has been that any international treaties or conventions that the government has signed and ratified are automatically part of new constitution. This means that the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities is now part of the new constitution and it brings a lot of obligations on the government. One of them is the right to vote in any national election or referendum. To achieve this right, mechanisms have to be put in place for persons with intellectual disabilities to exercise those rights. KSMH is currently working with Kenya Human Rights Commission to contribute to the laws being enacted that will provide for supported decision making, reasonable accommodation and accessibility to the whole process.
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