In 2022, Mary, a wheelchair user and advocate for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), arrived at a public budget forum in Kisumu County. The venue had no ramps. The budget documents were not available in Braille. When she requested a sign language interpreter, officials shrugged: “We didn’t budget for that.” Mary's colleague with hearing impairment sat outside, her voice erased from a process meant to empower her. 

Amina cannot enter her local market. The ramp she fought for was never built. The contractor promised it. The county approved the plans. Yet here she is, stranded at the entrance, her wheelchair grinding against gravel as vendors shout for her to move. The market expansion was supposed to “modernize” the town. But modernity, it seems, has no space for Amina.

Somewhere in Kenya, it is that time again for Counties to “do budgets” and projects. Amina sits at the edge of a newly expanded market, her wheelchair lodged in gravel. The consultation meeting about this project was held upstairs in a building with no ramps.