Registering a Person with Disability with NCPWD

We have written before about why registration with the National Council for Persons with Disabilities matters, and why so many families have never been told about it. This is the practical companion: what the steps are now, what to carry, and what being registered can lead to.

Every rule below is taken from the Council's own website, ncpwd.go.ke, and its registration portal on eCitizen, or from the Kenya Revenue Authority at kra.go.ke. They change, so check before anyone travels.

The card has become a certificate

Many people still talk about "the disability card". In a notice dated 28 November 2023, the Council announced that registration had moved to eCitizen and that the new route ends the production of physical disability cards. In place of a card, a registered person receives a confirmation by SMS and a disability registration certificate that can be downloaded and printed whenever it is needed.

If you already have a card, you do not lose your number. The same notice says that persons with disabilities holding earlier cards can apply for the certificate and keep their disability numbers.

Step one: the medical assessment

Registration rests on a disability medical assessment report. According to the Council's frequently asked questions, the report must come from a government gazetted hospital and be signed by the County Director of Medical Services. A letter from a private clinic is not the same thing.

The Council's guidance points families to level four hospitals, because those have the rehabilitation services needed for the assessment. For some disabilities it names a specialist:

• Visual disability: a consultant ophthalmologist at a government hospital.
• Mental disability: a consultant psychiatrist at a government hospital.
• Hearing disability: a consultant ear, nose and throat specialist, which the Council's guidance places at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Which hospital in Kiambu assesses which disability, on which day, is a question for the hospital itself or the county disability office. Ask before you go, so you do not spend a fare on the wrong clinic.

Bring every old document. Clinic cards, discharge summaries, earlier reports, school records for a child. The person doing the assessment has never met this family, and paper fills the gaps.

Step two: register on eCitizen

The Council lists three documents:

1. The disability medical assessment report, signed as above.
2. A national ID for anyone over 18, or a birth certificate for a child.
3. A passport size photograph.

The Council states that registration is free. Then, following its instructions:

1. Go to ncpwd.ecitizen.go.ke, or ecitizen.go.ke.
2. Sign up, choosing the option that fits (citizen, resident or foreigner), and log in.
3. Choose "Register as a person with Disability" and follow the steps, uploading the documents.
4. When it is approved, log back in, open your recent applications, and choose "Download Disability Certificate". Print a few copies and keep the file on the phone.

Use a phone number and email that will last. The SMS and the certificate come to the account, so a borrowed number that changes next month is a problem waiting to happen. For a child, use a parent's account details that the family will keep.

If a household has no smartphone or nobody comfortable online, a cyber cafe can help with the upload, but sit beside whoever does it. The account and the documents belong to the family.

What registration can open

Registration on its own pays nothing. What it does is make a person eligible to apply for several things. None of them is automatic.

Income tax exemption. According to the Kenya Revenue Authority, persons with disabilities can be exempted from income tax on the first KSh 150,000 a month, or KSh 1.8 million a year. This only matters to someone with taxable income, such as a salary, a pension or rent. KRA says the application goes through the Council's portal on eCitizen, includes physical vetting by a joint panel from the Ministry of Health, KRA and the Council, and needs, among other things, the assessment report, a specialist medical report, proof of income, a KRA PIN certificate, a valid tax compliance certificate, and the Council's registration certificate. KRA states the exemption certificate is valid for five years and then must be renewed.

Cash transfer for severe disability. Inua Jamii, the government's cash transfer programme run by the State Department for Social Protection, includes households caring for persons with severe disabilities. The Council's guidance describes severe disability as needing permanent care, including feeding, toileting and protection from danger. The State Department gives the payment as KSh 2,000 each payment cycle. Whether registration is open in your area is a question for the sub-county social development office, or the Inua Jamii toll free line, 1533.

Education support. The Council offers education assistance. Its own guidance is careful: the applicant must be registered with the Council and must be a student at the school, funding can only be given once in a financial year, and applying does not guarantee funding. Ask the Council's county office when applications open.

Assistive devices. The Council describes a route for devices such as wheelchairs: fill in its assistive device application form, get a recommendation from the relevant professional (a physiotherapist, orthopaedic technologist, audiologist or ophthalmologist, for example), attach the registration, ID and assessment report, and hand it in at the Council's county office. We wrote about choosing the right device in assistive devices beyond the wheelchair.

Who to call

The Council lists a toll free line, 0800 724 333, and the email info@ncpwd.go.ke. Use them before travelling, to check what is currently required and where. Write down the date, who you spoke to and what you were told.

Where we fit

Lift A Life Foundation is a community based organisation registered with the County Government of Kiambu, certificate RSC/3811/CBO/2024, working in Ruiru. People living with disabilities are among those we are registered to work with, and advocacy is one of our registered activities. We cannot assess anyone or register them. The hospital and the Council do that.

What we can do is help a family through it. Work out which documents are missing. Sit beside a parent while the eCitizen form is filled in. Go with someone to the assessment when the journey is too much alone. If you are caring for someone with a disability in Ruiru and do not know where to start, tell us. If you know this route well and could walk a family through it, we would like to hear from you.