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{
    "id": 384920,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/384920/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Kuti",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 60,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Kuti",
        "slug": "mohammed-kuti"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I stand here to support this very important Motion. I am sure this issue of drug abuse sends chills up the spines of all of us seated here. I am sure, even seated in this House, there are parents or relatives of ours here who either we know or are personally affected by the problem of drug abuse; be it alcohol, heroine, miraa, cigarettes or bhang. So, it is affecting every home. Everybody in this House has in one way or another suffered from this problem or they know a neighbour who is suffering from this problem. It has broken homes and led to deaths. It is generally a disaster. I fully support the Motion for the fact that this menace has reached a level of national disaster and should actually be declared so. We need to use the same effort the Government put in combating HIV/AIDS when it was declared a national disaster. That kind of plan is needed to address the issue of drug abuse. When HIV/AIDS became a menace and was declared a national disaster, we not only got support from within, but even from international organizations and bilateral donors. We need a seriously concerted effort to face this challenge because we are losing a whole generation. What Vision 2030 will we be talking about if the people to carry on that vision do not know how the morning starts and how the evening ends? They will simply look at you with drowsy eyes and if you ask them what Vision 2030 is, you just pity them. When you pity that person, you are pitying this country because that is where we are now. It is as bad as that. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, declaring this menace a national disaster is long overdue. Whether it is in north eastern where miraa has denied wives their pleasure or in Central Province where alcohol has made women to go to streets and demonstrate, whether it is heroine at the coast and other urban centres, every corner of this country is reeling from the pain of drug abuse. Therefore, I think we need a concerted effort to address this challenge. I have a son who is 21 years old and he is turning 22 years this month, and every day he goes away and comes back, my heart just throbs. I have to always follow him. I have to ask him where he has been every day. It is my prayer that he goes through this age and grows into an adult who will be useful to this nation. I know this is the concern and pain of every parent in this country. This morning, I was called by a friend of mine who is a banker. Yesterday, at around 4.00 p.m., together with her husband and her one year old child, she was learning how to drive at Jamhuri Park, which is an open space, three boys; one of them who looked 10 years, another one 15 years and the last one 17 years old approached this family and all the three of them had guns. They stole everything this family had at gun The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}