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{
    "id": 1073117,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1073117/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 291,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "One in four Kenyans at one point in their lives - because these disorders are not necessarily permenant - are likely to suffer from a mental disorder. Those numbers are scary and they tell us why we need to focus on it. In the last Parliament I remember very well one of our colleagues had a mental health disorder when we were in Parliament and she had to go and see a psychiatrist. I remember her going to the Speaker then in the National Assembly and asking, why it is that even in our insurance scheme of provision, her psychiatrists or doctors cannot be paid because they have not been listed among the service providers. Very quickly - I thank the Parliamentary Service Commission - they were able to list them. Believe it or not, if you ask those in the PSC, as of now that is one of the most used of the categories of medical practitioners consultants within the scheme of Parliament. When we are talking about dentists, opticians, gynaecologists, mental health is actually used more. Many times as politicians we do not want to admit that the stresses of our work, interaction and shock--- I thank God that I started this career very early in life but when you just come from a different career and you suddenly get into politics the change in life and expectations really affect a lot of Members. I would like to tell you that there is no shame. It is okay to be not okay, but you need to get that kind of assistance. It is here with us; it is in our families. We all know our loved ones who have had to go through some form of medical attention but many Kenyans cannot afford, many Kenyans do not have access to dealing with this. I happen to be a patron of a foundation where a friend of mine lost his son and that son who was like my son as well. He committed suicide. It was all linked to mental health. Many parents are not able to know what our children go through. The world has become competitive to a fault. We are all out there trying to make it and forget our families. Due to that there is an outbreak of mental health conditions. I had the chance to visit Dr. Frank Njenga in his office. He has been my friend for many years. He told me: “This issue you are trying to talk about, come, let me show you what is happening.” I went to one of his facilities in Nairobi and I was shocked. When I was there I found many of my friends there. There were people I was studying with in campus, people who are educated. I found many of my friends’ children there, from the age of 13, hospitalized because of one or another form of mental health disorder. I felt that really I must be a champion to just tell us that we need to pay more attention and put more focus. I got more time to sit down with the practitioners. They were doing some training upstairs. I sat down with them and they told me things that indeed this Bill addresses. One of the things that they were able to tell me was that in their profession, within the counties and the County Public Service Board they are not able to be hired by counties. Therefore, we do not have mental health practitioners within our counties hired because it is not seen as one of the fields where our county hospitals are supposed to hire officials from."
}