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{
    "id": 222640,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/222640/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Bifwoli",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 208,
        "legal_name": "Sylvester Wakoli Bifwoli",
        "slug": "wakoli-bifwoli"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the chance to support this Motion that has been brought by Mr. Wamunyinyi. This Motion should have been brought to the House a long time ago. I would like to tell the Minister for Health that it is the responsibility of the Government to make a Bill. They should borrow ideas from Mr. Wamunyinyi and draft a Bill. It should be sponsored by the Government. This Bill is very important because this country needs psychologists and psychotherapists. The services of these practitioners are important. I do not know why we have never discovered this problem since the colonial era because it has been in existence since those days. In the old days whenever people had a little psychological problem, they would either go to a witchdoctor or a spiritual healer. As an hon. Member said here, God heals. We do not dispute that fact, but we do not need to overload God with problems that we 1204 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 9, 2007 can solve by ourselves. There are certain things that we can do on our own and it is not necessary to bother God with them. There are so many people in this country who know that they are not mad, but they are mentally challenged. They are normally taken to witchdoctors or some churches where they are confined. Sometimes the healing process involves being beaten thoroughly by whips so that they come to their senses and heal. We do not need to subject our brothers and sisters to torture in the name of healing when they are suffering from a mental problem. Today there are so many problems in this country. Financial problems can cause one to be sick. There are some hon. Members who were moved from the Back Bench to the Front Bench. As a result power went into their heads. Therefore, they need psychotherapy. Quite a number of hon. Members sitting on the Front Bench here need psychotherapy. Even if you tell them that you have a problem, they are so much pre-occupied with power that they cannot assist you. Perhaps they need the services of Mr. Wamunyinyi and others. Those hon. Members from the Opposition who want to take over power also need psychotherapy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we all need these services. We need to set up a board to set up regulations that should be followed by psychologists and counsellors. In the issue of tribal clashes, any person who becomes a refugee in his own country needs counselling. There are so many criminals in this country. Thugs have taken over this country and Mr. Michuki is no longer in charge. The people in charge are called Mungiki. They seem to have some resemblance with his name. If you come into contact with the Mungiki you might suffer some mental disorder. These people are mad. You either give them the money or they do what they want to do to you. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that there are so many accidents. The trauma that comes as a result of encountering the Mungiki, accidents and the HIV/AIDS is too much for the mind to handle. That is why this Motion is long overdue. The education system in this country is also a contributing factor to mental problems of our youth. We rate schools as performing well or poorly in exams and yet they are not learning under the same environment nor are they endowed with the same facilities. Some schools have fewer teachers than others and yet they are rated at the same level. We need counsellors to assist the planners of our education system. We need education psychologists. I do not know why they go to university, learn about psychology in education and they do not apply it. No wonder most of the people who are running Ministries are not qualified. They are simply working there because they have god fathers. They go there just to occupy the offices and do nothing. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to recognise the fact Mr. Wamunyinyi has brought to this House a very important Motion. We must look at this Motion critically so that we can have separate certificates in psychology and counselling because these are two different areas. Counselling is something very special. It deals with how a mentally challenged patient should discover why he is in that state and what caused it. He can then be helped out of that problem. Due to the technicality involved, not everybody can be a counsellor. You cannot make me a counsellor in a school to give advice just because I went to a teacher training college and learned elementary counselling or psychology. Advice and counselling are two different stories. Advice comes as a result of experience in life. You must have encountered the problem, seen the problems involved, and now you have refrained. Such people can be good advisors, but they cannot be counsellors on the basis of their experience in life. That is why we want to put a syllabus in existence. A curriculum must be developed for this important issue. There are some people who cannot afford even a single meal in a day. If you can interpret life positively you will not be badly off. I want to support this Motion. If you want to be a psychological practitioner, you must read and pass the exams of that board then you will be May 9, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1205 recognised as a professional. There will always be quacks. It is a question of dealing with your mind. If I can lie to you and give you some herbs or sand and you breath and get healed because of your mind, I will have succeeded. I beg to support, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}