NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Caroline Mwikali lost the ability to walk at age 13 after an illness. She quickly learned how difficult it is to get around Kenya’s bustling capital, Nairobi.

Mwikali, who now works at a car finance company, said public transport is not designed to accommodate wheelchair users like her.

Nairobi’s most popular modes of transport include motorcycles as well as minivans and minibuses which are not equipped with ramps. They are also not designed to accommodate wheelchairs in their aisles, so users must be hoisted up stairs and placed on regular seats while their wheelchairs are placed with their luggage.

“In most cases, bus station attendants have to remove you from the wheelchair to help you board buses. It’s not only uncomfortable, but it allows you to attract unnecessary public attention,” Mwikali told the Associated Press.

She is part of the 2.2% of Kenya’s population, or around 900,000 people, who live with a disability. The most common type of disability is related to mobility (42%).

An entrepreneur, Daniel Gatura, founded Ace Mobility in Nairobi in 2021. Its vehicles are modified with ramps and swivel seats to accommodate people with disabilities and anyone else who needs assistance to move around.

Gatura said he was inspired by a personal experience growing up.

“My father suffered a spinal cord injury in an accident that left him in a wheelchair when he was just 5 years old. I witnessed the challenges my father faced, including losing his job due to transportation issues,” Gatura said.

Users can book rides through the Ace Mobility app. Drivers are trained as caregivers, ensuring they understand how to provide respectful and appropriate assistance to passengers with disabilities.

Gatura claimed to have 5,000 users.

“We are changing the discourse around disability and reduced mobility. Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t earn a living; it doesn’t mean you’re nobody in society,” he said.

Transportation is more expensive than public transportation, charging the equivalent of $1 per kilometer (0.6 miles). The same amount can be used to pay for a 40 kilometer (24 mile) journey on public transport. But Gatura noted that it delivers people directly to their homes.

“I find the rates quite reasonable considering the convenience it offers. I can travel comfortably and without necessarily moving from my seat. It also somehow preserves my dignity,” said Mwikali, who has been using the service for four months after being recommended by a former classmate.

But others, like Cindy Cherotich, can’t afford the service. She has to scramble to find space in minibuses on crutches.

“When I go to the bus station, sometimes public vehicles don’t allow me to board,” she said. “When they see my crutch and someone who is fine without crutches, they will let him in and I will be left.”

Lucy Nkatha, a disability advocate and coordinator of Kiengu Women Challenged to Challenge Group, an NGO, said she had never heard of Ace Mobility and called for marketing support for such companies.

“It also needs to be made affordable,” she said.

Sandra Nyawira, disability inclusion advisor at United Disabled Persons of Kenya, noted that Kenya has a number of policies in place to accommodate people with disabilities, but their implementation is rare. She called for more political will.

“It’s one thing to have a policy that addresses your issues, but it’s another to actually implement it,” she said.

___

The Associated Press receives financial support from the Gates Foundation for global health and development coverage in Africa. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP standards to work with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas on AP.org.