The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) estimates that about 10% of the country's population have a form of disability. With a population estimated at 32.2 million, a 2003 economic survey noted that approximately 3.2 million persons in Kenya have a disability.

The rights of people with disabilities (PWD) are well protected in existing international, regional, and national human rights instruments. They include the formulation of the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and Kenya's Persons with Disabilities Act (2004). The purposes of the Convention and the Act are to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. They are further meant to facilitate the full participation of PWD in all sectors of society.

Despite these efforts, the rights of PWD in Kenya are not always upheld. The lives of PWD continue to be marked by experiences of discrimination, prejudice, and inequality. For instance, employment practices tend to favour people without disabilities. This inhibits the ability of PWD to become productive members of the society (Centre for Disability Rights, 2007).

One of the major root causes for the discriminatory acts against PWD in Kenya is religion-related. Theological interpretations of disability have significantly shaped the ways in which society relates to PWD. The Bible is intermingled with texts that have been interpreted in oppressive ways and together these continue to reinforce the marginalization and exclusion of PWD in the social, economic, political, and religious life of the society. This is evident in the experiences recounted by PWD.

This paper analyses Biblical and theological perspectives on disability, considers their implications on the rights of PWD in Kenya, and assesses the work of the church in Kenya in relation to disability rights