Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1460340,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1460340/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 236,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Do we have a holding and specialised treatment facility in every single county to deal with mental health? I report here that in my county, Busia, we do not have a single medical facility where we can deal with mental health matters. During my first years as a Member of Parliament, I had to rescue many people who were shackled because they were thought to be mad. They simply needed medical attention and psychological counselling to re-wean them off some very traumatic incidences they have faced. We also need to tell families wherever they are – that, if they sense that a family member has some medical condition of mental health in nature, they should not shy away from looking for medical attention. There are very many social support groups that can assist in making sure that we deal with this matter. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as the economy-related matters become hard, and as people are continuously tormented by social media and we continuously expose ourselves to too many issues, the issue of mental health will be key. That is why as you had said earlier, we should request for the mover’s concurrence to introduce an amendment to the Motion to say that ‘we resolve’ instead of saying that ‘we urge the Government.’ We should resolve that the national Government and the county governments collectively implement the Public Mental Health Policy and invest adequate resources as required by international conventions to deal with mental health. Otherwise, the number of suicide cases, including the number of women going to kill their own children, and the number of men going to kill their own children, are going to be many. Unless we intervene in good time, we are going to have a national disaster that is going to take us a lot more time to deal with. I repeat that I am not an expert but there are some predisposing factors towards mental health. I urge all the Members who are here that whenever they have an opportunity, please, let them talk about the predisposing factors. Let us try to lower them down so that we do not continue to have our constituents killing each other due to matters they can deal with. Issues to do with anger management could also be a mental health issue. How do we manage anger? If you are provoked, however slight it is, do you have to pull out your machete and slash somebody to death, or pull out your pistol and blow off somebody’s head? Can we learn to dialogue? Can we learn to talk to each other? When we were in the university, whenever we had issues, we would buy chapati, eat and dialogue together. That is how chapati came to be known as ‘dialogue’ in campus. With those many remarks, I support the Motion and urge the Mover to change the word “urge” with “resolve.’’ Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}