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{
    "id": 1157416,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1157416/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 164,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kasanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13185,
        "legal_name": "Sylvia Mueni Kasanga",
        "slug": "sylvia-mueni-kasanga"
    },
    "content": "clause of the Bill. I remember when they were considering the amendments the Ministry wanted, they took their time to understand every input the Directorate of Mental Health wanted factored in. They gave a robust debate on each and every item. That shows the depth with which they appreciate what the Bill is going to do. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it was the same Committee of the National Assembly that pushed for the funding of Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital . As you know, Mathari is our national facility on mental health. It does both training and also acts as the incarceration center for people incarcerated with mental health. For a long time, it has been neglected. However, this year, Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital received funding almost to the tune of Kshs600 million. For the first time, we are seeing a facelift of the facility. They are also rebranding. They put out a competition for young people to participate in coming up with a logo for the Institute. When I became aware of this, I took a few stakeholders whom I call friends of Mathari and who want to see Mathari rebranded to the facility that it should be. We had a meeting with the management and we were happy with what we found. We found a wonderful, nice looking, brightly colored place. A lot of good work is happening there. Kenyans need to know that as much as the Government is going to build a new Level Six referral facility for mental health, Mathari is our only one for now. We need to embrace it and fight the stigma. We are starting a movement called Friends of Mathari to help disseminate information of what Mathari does for Kenyans. Kenyans should not shudder at the mention of the name Mathari. It is a healing place and we should go there without fear. I thank the Committee for Children, Women and Vulnerable Persons of the Forum for Parliament of the Great Lakes Region. Our Speaker, Hon. Lusaka, is the current President of the Forum for Parliaments for International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). We were hosting the Assembly which is ending today. This Committee has had time to interact with this mental health Bill. They gave it prominence and a platform which I call continental. It was the first time a mental health was being discussed in the region. It has now gone into the books of ICGLR that this is how we are handling mental health issues in Kenya. I also thank the Ugandan Parliamentary Caucus on Mental Health. Their Chairperson, Hon. Geoffrey Macho, was here with his delegation. They came here and even toured Parliament. We sat down and looked at what the Bill offers. They came to benchmark on matters mental health. We took a whole morning to look into what they can borrow from our Bill and add to the Ugandan Bill. You can see the impact of this Bill to the region. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in a special way, I recognise the work of one member of the Clerk’s team. This lady called Sombe Toona has been quite an inspiration to me. She is the Legal Counsel of the Committee on Health. Since we started working on this mental health Bill, her passion towards the work has been exemplary. Her research work into making sure we have best practice inputted in the Bill and her consideration of all the stakeholders’ submissions – which were quite a number – was exemplary. Sometimes I would call on her for offsite meetings with stakeholders and she would come. She went all out, beyond her call of duty to make sure that every"
}