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A disability advocacy lobby has called out Jubilee vice chair David Murathe for allegedly slighting people living with albinism.
The lobby wants Murathe to apologise.
While appearing on a live TV interview on Thursday, Murathe is alleged to have made remarks to the effect that albinism was not a disability.
“I think pigment of somebody’s skin is not a disability. There is nothing that I can do that [former senator Isaac] Mwaura cannot do. There is nothing that Gachagua can do that Mwaura cannot do. There is nothing that Mwaura can do that we cannot do. In fact, we are going to revisit the definition of persons living with disabilities…” Murathe said.
He was appearing on the show ‘Crossfire’ alongside Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua on KTN News. The show was hosted by Sophia Wanuna on Thursday night.
The lobby want him to withdraw the remarks and apologise to the senator and all persons living with albinism in the country.
Mwaura is a former nominated senator after he lost his battle with Jubilee party leadership in court.
The lobby said the contempt against Mwaura, who is the only lawmaker with the condition, suggested a contempt against all who see him as their representative.
“…. Isaac Mwaura is……also a role model and mentor to many persons with disabilities. Questioning his disability therefore questions the disability of all persons with albinism that he identifies with or represents.”
The alleged anti-albino remarks by Murathe follows similar remarks by Minority Whip in the National Assembly Junet Mohamed late last year, suggesting that Mwaura was no albino but had just bleached his skin.
The group said it had made a complaint against Junet at the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.
The group said the condition is legally recognised as a disability in the country after the for National Council for Persons with Disabilities board of directors in 2006 adopted an institutional policy that recognised.
Albinism is scientifically defined as an inherited genetic condition that reduces the amount of melanin pigment formed in the skin, hair or eyes of a person.
Melanin pigment is responsible for person’s skin colour. It is also responsible for tanning when the skin is exposed to direct and excess sunlight.
“By stating that a person’s skin pigment is not a disability, Murathe goes against the very definition that identifies albinism as a genetic condition,” the lobby said.
“His statement contravenes the fact that albinism is caused by lack of melanin pigment in the skin, which not only results to light/white skin colour but also exposes persons with albinism to harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun that can lead to skin cancer.”
The lobby also took issue with the assertion by Murathe that they will revisit the legal definition of a person living with disability, saying that this was a veiled threat meant to settle political scores.
“Human rights are indivisible, interdependent and inalienable. Therefore, we call upon our leaders in the political sphere to make themselves aware of issues around disability and albinism so as not to mislead or misinform the public through their engagements.”
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