Kunene governor vows dignity, rights for disabled

Government institutions that fail to implement Namibia's revised disability policy will no longer be able to plead ignorance, Kunene governor Vipuakuje Muharukua has warned, cautioning that non-compliance will not be tolerated.

Speaking at a training on the Revised National Policy on Disability (2025–2035) last week, Muharukua said the workshop was a call to action, not a routine awareness campaign.

"In law there is a saying that 'ignorance of the law is no excuse.' Thus, non-compliance with the policy will not be excused after this training," he said.

The governor highlighted the unique challenges facing persons with disabilities in Kunene, where communities are scattered across vast, remote landscapes with limited access to essential services.

"For a mother caring for a child with a disability in a remote settlement, for an elderly herder who has lost his sight, for a young person in a wheelchair with no paved path to the classroom, disability is not a policy discussion. It is the daily arithmetic of distance, access and dignity," he said.

Muharukua said the revised policy, adopted by Cabinet in July 2025 and officially launched later that year, seeks to bridge crucial gaps by providing a practical framework backed by a costed implementation plan.

The policy, he said, is a reaffirmation of Namibia's constitutional promise that persons with disabilities are "not recipients of charity but rights holders deserving of equal participation in every sphere of our national life".

He added: "As governor of the Kunene region, I commit publicly and before all of you to championing the implementation of this policy across our region and to ensuring that persons with disabilities in Kunene are given every opportunity to thrive, regardless of how far they live from this hall."

Inclusion

Despite adopting its first disability policy nearly three decades ago, Namibia still leaves many people with disabilities facing steep barriers to education, healthcare, transport and employment, studies show.

Those challenges are particularly acute in Kunene, where 7 004 (5.8%) of the region's population of 120 762 live with a functional disability, according to the Legal Assistance Centre's 2023 disability report.

Muharukua stressed that disability inclusion is a shared national responsibility, urging all sectors of society to help implement the policy.

"Inclusion is not the responsibility of one institution alone; it is a shared national obligation. We all have a role to play in ensuring the success of this policy."

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