Prof. Michael Ndurumo, a deaf scholar and advocate for inclusion, is the United Nations Kenya Person of the Year 2025. The UN recognised his lifelong work in advancing disability rights and equal opportunities.
His story is one of courage and persistence. Born into a family of 11, he became deaf after contracting meningitis in 1960. Kenya had no established sign language then.
In 1968, he excelled in his primary school exams. However, there was no secondary school nearby for deaf learners. Missionaries Dr. Peter Lowry and Ruth Mallory saw his potential and helped him get a scholarship to study in the United States. There, he learned sign language and pursued higher education. At 28, he earned a PhD in Education Administration, specialising in inclusive education and psychology.
When he returned to Kenya, Prof. Ndurumo joined the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development. He helped design inclusive education programmes and trained teachers to support all learners. He also played a major role in developing Kenya’s national sign language. It is now used in schools, the media, and government offices.
He later became the first deaf lecturer at Moi University. He also founded the Africa Institute of Deaf Studies and Research. The institute trains interpreters and promotes equality for deaf people and others with disabilities.
The UN honoured his role in shaping the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003. It also recognised his advocacy for sign language inclusion in the 2010 Constitution. UN Director-General Zainab Hawa Bangura described him as a man who turned silence into a language and isolation into inclusion.
