Disability Day: From Lodwar to 2026

Every year, Kenya holds a national celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and every year it moves to a different county. Last year it was Turkana's turn. Planning for 2026 is now under way. Before the next one, it is worth looking back at what the last one delivered, and what it left undone.

Lodwar, 3 December 2025

The national celebration was held at Moi Gardens in Lodwar, the headquarters of Turkana County, under the UN theme "Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress".

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) organised the day with the County Government of Turkana and the State Department for Social Protection. Partners included UNICEF, the World Food Programme, UNHCR, KCB, the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) and CBM. The county said more than 20 development partners supported parts of the event, and expected more than 1,200 participants, including people from the refugee community.

Choosing Turkana was deliberate. It is one of Kenya's largest counties, much of it arid, where persons with disabilities often travel long distances to reach any office, clinic or school.

What the day delivered

Services on the spot. KISE and NCPWD ran free disability medical assessments, the step that comes before registration with the Council. In the weeks before, the county's rehabilitative services team had urged anyone without a disability certificate to come and be assessed on the day, and assistive devices were handed out, including a children's wheelchair for an eight year old boy from Turkana South.

The new law in the spotlight. It was one of the first big public moments for the Persons with Disabilities Act 2025. Speaking for the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Nicholas Kitua committed the national government to implementing the Act. Turkana said it would fast track county regulations to put the Act and the national disability policy into practice.

County commitments. Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai announced a dedicated county disability fund, pledged to bring persons with disabilities into every county programme, and promised to keep medical assessments free. "We are committed to ensuring that inclusion is not just a policy statement but a lived reality for all residents of Turkana," he said.

What persons with disabilities asked for

The most important part of the day came from the floor. Persons with disabilities from across the county spoke directly to the governor, and their asks were clear:

• Offices we can get into. Many government offices and service points in Turkana are still inaccessible.
• School for deaf learners. A deaf speaker raised the lack of a secondary school for deaf learners in the county, and the cost of school fees for learners with disabilities.
• Fair hiring. Persons with disabilities called out stereotypes about what we can do, and asked for fair recruitment by both the county and the national government.
• Cash transfers for all of us. Support should reach all persons with disabilities, not only those classed as having severe disabilities, including during drought.
• Faster certificates. Delays in processing disability certificates keep people from the services they are entitled to.

The follow up test

Pledges made at a podium are easy. What matters is what happens next. The Persons with Disabilities Act 2025 now gives county governments clear duties on disability, which makes pledges like Turkana's something that can be followed up, not just remembered.

Include360 will be asking about the Turkana disability fund, a secondary school for deaf learners, and school fee support for learners with disabilities.

What to expect in 2026

A milestone theme. The UN theme for 2026 is "The CRPD at 20: Building on progress, advancing the future". It marks twenty years since the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in December 2006. Kenya ratified it in 2008. Expect the day to ask what twenty years of the Convention, and one year of the new Act, have actually changed.

A new county. The celebration moves again. The date and host county will be announced by the national organisers, and we will add them to our What's happening listing as soon as they are public.

An election year mood. This will be the last national celebration before the 2027 General Election. Expect a crowded podium and plenty of promises. The question to ask of each one: who will deliver it, and by when?

A day for the whole country. The national celebration happens in one county, but the day belongs to all of us. Include360 will cover the build up, the day itself and the follow up, and we want to hear from persons with disabilities marking it wherever you are.

What we want to see

Twenty years after the Convention, the measure of this day is not the speeches. It is assessments that lead to certificates, pledges that are followed up, venues every one of us can get into, and persons with disabilities leading from the stage, not just filling the tent.

Are you planning something for this year's celebration, or did you attend in Lodwar? Tell us.

Sources: NCPWD, County Government of Turkana, UN DESA.