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{
    "id": 1458278,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1458278/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 71,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Busia County, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Catherine Omanyo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "in Kenya at the moment, you might easily ignore or not be aware that someone has a mental issue and needs help. Many a time when we realise that someone is abusing drugs or is depressed, people are so busy to even help. You can easily hear statements like: “This one has turned out to be a Mathari case.” Meaning, we dismiss easily and carry on with our lives. Mental health issues are with us in every family. As we look at how Kenya is, a facility like Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital is admitting more people daily than its capacity. There is lack of enough staff to handle the menace. We are just losing family members or relatives as we watch. Most of those who give up end up hanging themselves or committing suicide because we do not understand. Hon. Mishi has come up with what we can inculcate even in our curriculum so that every child grows up understanding and knowing how to handle anything that comes up indicating mental health problems. Some people end up taking to jail anyone who is disturbing in their homes. It may be because of drugs or trauma-related actions. Mentally ill people are not for jail. They are not for beating up or mob justice. We have seen people beating up mentally ill people because of how they behave or carry themselves around the society. We want the Government to increase funding in this sector so that every county can have a stand-alone facility that is solely built for handling mental illnesses or mental health issues. We need accessibility. Sometimes, we victimise those people. It becomes an embarrassment for any family to share mental health issues of their family members. We should stop victimising them. Sometimes, it could be genetic. It is not just drugs and lack of jobs. You have seen how our Gen. Zs have come up. It is not because of lack of respect. It is because of frustrations. Children have witnessed parents sell their property. Children have witnessed parents deny themselves basic needs just to take them to school. That takes all the money at home. Anything called money takes children to school. After school, they come back, sit and become a burden to their parents. Even when people want to marry, they take their spouses to stay with their parents again because they cannot sustain them. Some of those things mount up to frustrations. If frustrations keep mounting on top of frustrations, it becomes depression. People lose their normalcy when they are depressed. Sometimes, they become very poisonous when they lose their normalcy. We really have to care about mental illness by making sure that the money is set aside for its cure. In fact, Hon. Ndindi Nyoro talked about cutting on impulsive spending yesterday. It will be easier to handle and prevent than to cure if we cut to make sure that facilities at the county and sub-county levels have sections that deal with this matter. We can all prevent mental health issues if we look into this. I support and really thank Hon. Mishi for coming up with this Motion. We are all affected. We cannot run away from this. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker."
}