--- --- Oct 02, 2024 # Crystal Asige by Eddie Ndopu  Crystal Asige Crystal AsigeCourtesy Senator Crystal Asige, MP A phrase from Kenyan Senator Crystal Asige’s Insta­gram bio immediately stood out to me: “visually impaired person but the streets just call me VIP.” Reading it, I instantly knew we rolled in the same pack—a growing cohort of brilliant and badass African leaders with disabilities taking up space on the world stage. Senator Asige’s life is a master class in embracing the unexpected. Diagnosed with glaucoma as a teenager, Asige rose to prominence as a formidable politician in Kenya—after first gracing the airwaves as an award-­winning singer. With every twist and turn, she has charted a course that defies categorization. Since taking office, she has helped pass bills to uplift people with disabilities, including a tax break for parents and caregivers of kids with disabilities, and new support for Kenyan sign language. Senator Asige is a true Renaissance woman, proving what I have always known—being disabled is compatible with an extraordinary life. _Ndopu is a humanitarian and a U.N. Sustainable Development Goal Advocate_ Crystal Asige is on the TIME100 Next 2024 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023517/crystal-asige/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023517/crystal-asige/"},"headline":"Crystal Asige","datePublished":"2024-10-02T11:14:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-28T06:29:04.211Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023517/crystal-asige/","keywords":["list","franchise","Magazine","TIME 100 Next","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ad356ce6dbdc64f/698a5b8909208f209741daba/time100-next-2024-crystal-asige-crop.jpg.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eddie Ndopu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eddie-ndopu/"}],"creator":"Eddie Ndopu","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ad356ce6dbdc64f/698a5b8909208f209741daba/time100-next-2024-crystal-asige-crop.jpg.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023517/crystal-asige/","name":"Crystal Asige"}}]}] ```