The chairperson of the Inua Mlemavu Organization which champions the rights of persons with a disability seeks to amongst other things support the petition for the just concluded general elections.
He states that the elections were unfairly conducted to the larger exclusion of persons living with disability who unable to access the various polling stations on a material day due to lack of proper access despite timeous protests from the members of the Inua Mlemavu.
On October 13, 2021, Mr Makarina on behalf of the organization signed a letter where he raised concerns stating that areas, where the voter registration exercises were taking place, were inaccessible by wheelchair users.
The applicant also seeks to establish the reason why the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) was not using sign language interpreters in the places of voter registration to aid persons with disabilities or individuals with hearing impairment.
According to the petitioner, IEBC did not bother to respond to the queries that were raised by him leading to the disenfranchisement of many persons living with a disability.
Further, according to the petitioner, as a result of the IEBC’s disregard of the rights and fundamental freedoms of persons living with disability, the situation was exacerbated during the August 9 elections as the organization received an avalanche of complaints citing frustrated attempts to access the polling station to vote due to lack of adequate facilities to access the polling stations.
The organization proceeds to say that the impugned general election conducted on August 9 was not free and fair to all as persons who are physically challenged were unable to vote.
