When the Rose Colored Glasses Wear Off

An image of Kampala Serena Hotel

Kampala Serena Hotel is one of the best hotels an able-bodied person could ever find themselves in. However, the same sentiment can't be held by a Person with Disabilities. In fact, there is a lot more to be desired, for a Five Star Hotel.
The issue of accessibility is a problem that continues to plague the service industry and Kampala Serena is no exception. The hotel has no provision for ramps at the entrance to ease the movement of Persons with Disabilities especially the wheelchair bound and Calipher users. The restrooms are either a floor above or below the actual location of the conference. Woe unto a guest with disability needing to use the restrooms.
The call of nature is one we all know that can't be ignored but when faced with this kind of situation; guests with disabilities limit their intake of fluids to avoid drawing attention to them by being bodily carried up and down the stairs to access the restrooms.
President Museveni introduced the Affirmative Action act that gives top priority to Persons with Disabilities, the elderly and pregnant women. This act has not only been in effect for a couple of years but is standard practice in the service industry, for example, banks, hospitals and a few hotels. Sadly, this is not the case for Kampala Serena and its staff.
During the 2017 National Family Planning Conference, Persons with Disabilities were forced to endure standing for hours on end in long queues at the service stations with staff looking on instead of extending offers of help. It is through prodding by fellow guests that saw them spring into action and help guests with disabilities.
Ms. Jennifer Musisi and her team at Kampala City Council Authority should take a break from investigating the compliance of malls in relation to the Public Buildings Act and scrutinize these hotels. They, more than anything, need to be more compliant with the Public Buildings Act despite their status in the service industry.
Along with this; event organizers - most especially Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, need to put a lot of thought on the needs of guests with disabilities attending their conferences. Disabled People's Organizations sink in a lot of money to be part of these national activities. Having their needs overlooked is not only unacceptable but doesn't reflect well on both the organizers and hosts.
 They should also include Persons with Disabilities on their committees before deciding on the choice of venue and setting. Accessibility is uncompromisingly Key for a Person with Disability. For an events planning committee to seat and make a decision based on ambiance, location and environment without the involvement of Persons with Disabilities is to hand them the short end of the stick. There are other five star hotels in good locations, are disability friendly and sensitive, with far better services than Kampala Serena Hotel.

Access To Information

I met our  AIGP Asan Kasingye at the event

I had the pleasure of attending a public dialogue on Access to Information hosted by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and the company of Uganda Government representatives from Ministers, Departments and Agencies.

The topic at hand was what government agencies had done to enable the public access information and majority of the replies from the representatives ranged from social media activity where citizens get timely responses, development of web portals for information dissemination and accountability, not forgetting magazines.

As much as the strides are notable especially in this digital age; I felt these public servants focused much more on the minority of users that is the technologically savvy urban person than the layman person who would like to access this information and represents majority of the population.

In a population of 38 million people as of June 2016, internet usage and access is at 31% with an even lower margin from a disability point of view. Many cannot afford the basic phone let alone smart phones which remain the cheapest method of internet and information access. Their low income statuses cannot sustain the possession of a smart phone coupled with the purchase of data.

Information access remains beleaguered by computer illiteracy where persons with disabilities are concerned. They lack basic skills in computer use if presented with one and it is far worse for blind persons with disabilities who need specialized equipment like JAWS (Job Access with Speech) which comes at a cost.

A lot of sensitization campaigns need to be carried out to inform the public on the availability of information access on prior mentioned platforms. They need to be shared and use tutored for full utilization because not all are knowledgeable of their existence.

To cap it off; the impenetrable mountainous terrain has made wider spread and coverage impossible invariably limiting access to both the internet and information in the deeper villages of the country.

More needs to be done to propel information access on a wider coverage regardless of the availability of services and tools. They alone cannot do much for that person with a disability living in a far off village without so much as awareness of their availability and use.