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{
    "id": 434011,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/434011/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 301,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank hon. Wamunyinyi for bringing this Bill. Even though I am a lawyer by profession, the work I have done in the past has brought me within its realm. This Bill is timely. When I worked as an Executive Director of the Cradle, I did a lot of work in relation to counseling of children on issues of psychotherapy. One of the issues that were very problematic was the standards setting. I must confess that when I waded in that environment, I did not know the difference. For me, anybody who could offer some level of discussion when you had a problem was a counselor. They all qualified as one thing. Later, I was educated; I was told the clear difference. This is a very important area in our lives because the country has become very calamitous. We have children who are raped daily; we have cases of terrorism. And, because of our African cultural set up, we also assume that men are strong enough and they do not need any counseling. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is, indeed, timely that we start recognizing these professions and we actually legislate on standards for them. When we have calamities, everybody comes out saying they are counselors, sometimes meaning very well. But when you have actually not gone through any training, sometimes you make the situation of the person you are dealing with even worse. I am very happy that we will actually provide standards setting through this Bill. The only thing I would want to say is that during the Committee Stage, or at an appropriate time, without necessarily bringing in my own amendments, I will want to request the Mover to take into consideration some of the issues raised here. I know that within five minutes we cannot mention all of them, but we can give written submissions on some of the issues. For instance, from a legal perspective, when you are talking about counselors, psychologists and physiotherapists, you need to give them not necessarily technical descriptions, but there needs to be a definition, so that you distinguish them, otherwise, they will be one and the same thing in the Bill. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}