Leadership and women with disabilities: Migori Women Rep candidate Ghati on campaigning on wheelchair
By Malemba Mkongo, July 12, 2022Nominated Member of Parliament (MP) Dennitah Ghati was Migori’s Woman Representative in 2013 when a car accident left her in a wheelchair in 2014.
In 2017 she was nominated to represent Persons With Disabilities (PWD) at the National Assembly. However, in the forthcoming August elections, Ghati is back to active politicking and will be vying for the same seat through the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)ticket having won the nominations.
In her own words, it has been difficult to make a comeback using a wheelchair and had to gather courage and strength.
“It takes guts to campaign as a PWD. It took time for people to accept me the way I’m. It is like people did not know and I had to prove to them I’m the same person they knew before the 2013 accident,” she says.
She added that society has made PWDs feel ashamed and not worthy, forcing them to self-pity instead of overcoming their fears.
Ghati says she has adjusted and modified the car she uses during her campaigns to ease her movements while using the wheelchair.
However, she says her heart bleeds for new candidates who cannot afford to modify their cars or have the necessary resources needed for campaigns.
Ghati’s win during the nomination is a clear indication of how Kenyans are slowly, but steadily accepting the possibilities of having women with disability as their leaders.
It is also evident that a good number of women with disabilities have chosen to go for elective seats and shun away from the usual — where they are mostly nominated by different parties to represent the PWDs community.