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The Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Dr. Alfred Mutua, came under intense scrutiny in the Senate after Senators questioned his ministry’s commitment to enforcing the constitutional requirement that at least five per cent of public service positions be reserved for persons with disabilities.
CS Mutua appeared before the Senate to respond to concerns surrounding the removal of the Disability Mainstreaming Indicator from government performance contracting guidelines, a move that has been met with public and legislative criticism.
First to have a bite of the cherry was Nominated Senator George Mbugua, who pressed the Labour Cabinet Secretary to clarify what actions the Ministry had taken to protect and promote inclusion for persons with disabilities in public employment and whether institutions failing to submit employment data were facing consequences.
“What is the status of reinstating the Disability Mainstreaming Indicator in the Performance Contracting Guidelines?” Senator Mbugua posed the first part of his question.
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He followed this up with: “What specific actions has the Ministry taken against public institutions that failed to submit data on the employment of persons with disabilities?” and “What measures has the Ministry put in place to ensure the Public Service Commission enforces the 5% employment reservation for persons with disabilities, as provided for under Article 54(2) of the Constitution?”
In his response, CS Mutua acknowledged that indeed the disability mainstreaming indicator had been removed from the performance contracting framework, claiming that the Ministry had since engaged the Public Service Performance Management and Monitoring Unit to advocate for its reinstatement in future cycles.
He pointed out that alternative strategies had been adopted, such as creating disability-friendly work environments, promoting reasonable accommodation, and pushing for the inclusion of disaggregated disability data into the Unified Human Resource Information System (UHRIS).
On the issue of non-compliance by public institutions, the Cabinet Secretary for Labour admitted that less than 50 per cent of these institutions had submitted relevant data.
“We have written formal reminders, conducted sensitisation programs, and even engaged agencies directly,” he told the House. He added that efforts were underway to make disability inclusion reporting mandatory in all performance contracts.
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Regarding enforcement, the CS said that his Ministry was working closely with the Public Service Commission, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, and other relevant bodies to monitor and report on progress toward the 5% threshold.
He, however, conceded that no direct punitive action had been taken yet due to legislative and policy gaps.
Senator Mbugua was unsatisfied with the general tone and vagueness of the response. Rising on a supplementary question, he asked:
On page 2 of your response, you indicated that there are alternative monitoring tools. Would you tell me which tools these are and where they have been applied? And secondly, in the absence of a performance indicator, can the CS tell me how his Ministry is monitoring the inclusion data collected at the Ministry?
Responding to this, CS Mutua said:
Some of the alternative ways of monitoring have been through what we call a form of appraisal. So, we are doing a form of appraisal of HR officers and also leaders of certain sectors… But there needs to be a data and reporting system.
The former Machakos Governor admitted that while frameworks exist on paper, actual implementation was severely lacking.
“There are a lot of things in theory, in books, that are not implemented. So, it’s part of the process,” he added, before promising that his Ministry would convene meetings within two to four weeks to design proper enforcement modules.
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Senator Catharine Mumma, herself a parent of a person with a disability, strongly criticised the CS. She declared her interest before saying:
I have read through these questions very carefully, and I'm afraid the response is very underwhelming. The CS is scattering around, trying to justify why the indicator was removed. There’s no substance. I want to know which tools the ministry has used to guide them in measuring disability, and can they submit these tools to us?
Her emotional but firm demand drew support from fellow lawmakers, including Senator Boni Khalwale, who said:
Listening to you, you're giving the country a merry-go-round. This failure by your ministry on the 5% issue reflects your failure in the employment of our youth.
Senator Khalwale then directly challenged the CS, demanding to know whether he was willing to step aside and allow investigations into his ministry's handling of disability employment and inclusion.
Also joining the debate was Senator Enock Wambua of Kitui, who raised a critical policy query:
I want to find out from the CS whether it is the position of the government not to implement the 5% disability inclusion requirement or whether it’s a matter of individual ministries failing in their mandate.
The CS attempted to defend his ministry by citing international examples and reaffirming that enforcement tools were being developed.
“You can’t just let the private and public sector do it out of goodwill,” he said.
We are asking people to comply, but there’s no enforcement mechanism. However, I’ll be issuing a directive soon, with guidelines that will help us move forward.
Mutua cited examples from Australia and the United Kingdom where ATMs, buildings, and elevators are designed with disability in mind.
When you go into a building and you’re hard of hearing, there must be a system to show you where to go. We want to make this a national issue.
The Morning Question Time Session ended with the Senators unanimously urging the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to take immediate steps to operationalise disability inclusion policies, enforce compliance in public institutions, and report back to the House with clear data and measurable outcomes.