Convention of Rights 30: Right to take part in political life

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD) forms the foundation of disability rights laws in Uganda and is the model for the Persons With Disabilities Act (PWDA) 2006. The CRPD underlines and recognizes that persons with disabilities (PWDs) are entitled to all the human rights enunciated in the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If you are a PWD the rights in the CRPD are your rights, if you do not have a disability it is your duty to uphold and promote these rights.

Article 29 of the CRPD says PWDs have a right to a political life, the State undertakes:

a, to ensure PWDs can take part in public and political life either through freely chosen representatives or having the opportunity to vote or be elected by:

i, ensuring voting is accessible and easy to use.

ii, ensuring PWDs have a right to a secret vote without intimidation, they can stand for office and perform all public functions at any level of government using assistive technologies as appropriate.

iii, PWDs are guaranteed the right to freely express themselves as electors and can nominate a person of their choice to assist with voting.

b, to promote an environment where PWDs can participate fully in public affairs and encourage participation, including:

i, participating in non-government organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country and in activities of political parties.

ii, forming or joining PWDs organizations to represent PWDs at international, national, regional and local levels.

PWDs are often excluded from discussions that affect their lives. Their absence from these discussions reinforces barriers to participating fully in society. The workbook Human Rights: Yes! says this article guarantees the following rights to PWDs:

• To vote in elections on a non-discriminatory basis.
• To access an effective, impartial, and non-discriminatory procedure for the registration of voters.
• To have equal and effective access to voting procedures and facilities in order to exercise their right to vote, including the provision of reasonable accommodation.
• To cast their ballot in secret.
• To have assistance in order to exercise their right to vote or to stand for election as a candidate for public office.
• To participate in the conduct of public administration, including the administration of political parties and civil society.
• To participate in the work of international organizations, including serving as a representative of government in international organizations.
• To form and join disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) at all levels.

The right to vote is of fundamental importance in every democracy and PWDs have the right to vote freely and equally with everyone else. It the right of PWDs to vote without facing barriers to access. Obstacles to voting include things like inaccessible polling places which often have environmental barriers like lack of parking, narrow doorways, stairs, or no easy to read signs (see The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A commentary). Other barriers are often present, like inaccessible information on public meetings, political parties and voting procedures; or inaccessible voting technologies because there is no paper ballot; or other obstacles like small voting booths. Failure to provide any of these facilities, means that PWDs are being denied the right to vote.

The 2014 paper Sucessful Inclusion of PWDs in Democratic Governance, Structures and Processes - Case of Uganda discusses the history of democratic institutions in Uganda. It focuses on the history of PWDs political representation and in particular what inclusion in the democratic process means. It presents the following lessons on inclusion of PWDs in democratic processes. It says the:

• Disability movement is a key pillar in the success of inclusion. Sustained mobilisation, lobbying and advocacy to create the awareness and the conviction that persons with disabilities can contribute to the development of our society is of the backbone of the inclusion crusade...
• It is quite evident that if the potentials of PWDs are harnessed to the fullest by providing opportunities to them enables them to participate fully in all matters concerning development in the social, economic and political aspects.
• In order to promote an effective inclusion of PWDs it is imperative of any group, organisation or Government to advocate for formulation of appropriate legislations and support its implementation...
• Without increased commitment and political will to implement a rights based agenda to disability issues, it is unlikely that sufficient human and natural resources will be made available for disability service provision. The political climate of the day goes a long way in influencing the growth and sustaining of the disability agenda...
• Representation of PWDs cannot be complete if it does not fall under the political structures right from the top to the bottom...
• Affirmative action goes a long way in effecting inclusion. This applies more in promotion of gender inclusiveness especially women with disabilities...
• Access to education at all levels is essential for PWDs. It has been variously said that the easiest and the most systematic way of keeping a people marginalised and denied all opportunities is by denying them education...
• Financial resources can play pivotal role in implementing the policies and making PWD actively participate in governance issues. This can be achieved through budgeting processes and creation of special ministries to deal with disability issues...
• Enactment of laws that promote inclusion is of prime importance in the process of inclusion. However for many countries that may get inspired by the achievements recorded in Uganda should be able to appreciate that it is one thing to enact laws and another one to ensure they are implemented and Uganda has performed excellently in this regard.
• The leadership of organisations of PWDs should also make an effort to study, internalize the laws and advocate for their implementation at all levels of societal organization. The major reason why most laws are not implemented is because the people and the state machinery are not aware of them.

If you are a PWD, you have the right to vote and you have the right to take part in the political process.

Uganda’s reserved elected seats for persons with disabilities.
Uganda’s Constitution of 1995 rules that the State shall ensure fair representation of marginalized groups – including persons with disabilities – on all government bodies. As a result, legislators have passed several acts to increase the representation of persons with disabilities in the public sphere. Parliament has reserved five seats for Members who represent persons with disabilities; and every village, parish, sub-county, and district council has to include at least one man and one woman with a disability. Uganda’s 47,000 representatives with disabilities are easily the largest group of politicians with disabilities in the world.

This is written in Article 29 of the CRPD in the following way:

Article 29

Participation in political and public life

States Parties shall guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others, and shall undertake:

(a) To ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected, inter alia, by:

(i) Ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use;

(ii) Protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums without intimidation, and to stand for elections, to effectively hold office and perform all public functions at all levels of government, facilitating the use of assistive and new technologies where appropriate;

(iii) Guaranteeing the free expression of the will of persons with disabilities as electors and to this end, where necessary, at their request, allowing assistance in voting by a person of their own choice;

(b) To promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including:

(i) Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties;

(ii) Forming and joining organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at international, national, regional and local levels.