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{
    "id": 905825,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/905825/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 286,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "gender disorders which include paraphilias. We also have people who have gender switch. They think that they are men when they should be women and vice versa. The social cultural context for understanding these disorders is not in place. We do not get into the psychological psyche to understand the reason as to why that person behaves in a certain manner. We do not try to understand if their behaviour is as a result of mutation of their cells neither do we try to understand if they inherited those traits or if what is happening has to do with the brain. The cost of treatment for these illnesses is very high. Somebody might need up to Kshs20,000. The national Government and county government should look for a way of offering these services at affordable price. When a boy wears a wig for the first time, it could be funny. However, if he persistently does so, somebody would, probably, need to talk to him so as to get to understand the reason as to why he is doing so. We also have illnesses such as dementia and sleep related diseases. Mental health is very broad. Most of the mental illnesses are not fixed. Some of them change according to social and cultural conditions such as family stability or lack of it. Some people solve the problem that they are facing within a particular framework or environment. Stringent approach needs to be put in place to find out what is happening. This legislation is part of the strategy of the policy paper; Kenya Mental Health Policy 2015-2030 by the Ministry of Health. This Bill will operationalize the Mental Health Bill and policies. Operationalization, therefore, means putting very distinct structures into place to ensure that all these issues are carried out. For example, at the national level, the issue of resources comes in automatically. There are also issues of national strategy and policy; breaking this down even to the level of, for example, the processes and guidelines for the private institutions are recommended in the Bill. We should not forget that even when these are put into place, it is very important that they run as per the policies and guidelines that they have. It includes, for example, who brings a person with a mental illness and how they are taken in. There are very stringent measures for ensuring that the institution is well vetted through the board that has been provided for. The Bill goes a step further to amend sections of the membership of the board, to bring in various professionals. I think that creates a forum where they can bring different solutions. There is a section on penalties where the Bill talks about, for example, a case where somebody does not follow the procedure. It is the part where the Bill talks about setting up private institutions. The Bill sets out penalties for corporate and individual defaulters. For the corporate defaulters, it should be not more that Kshs10 million. There is a danger there because on the lower side, it could be Kshs1 million only. We need some sort of specification because somebody can just start a home for the mentally ill, collect people in the rural areas, put them there and use them as labourers. The Bill indicates that, that is illegal. However, somebody can do so, and by the time they are paying the Kshs1 million penalty, they will have already gained a lot of profit from forcing them to do textile work. Therefore, the lower end of the penalty should be made a bit more stringent. There should be no option for a fine in some instances. This is because sometimes the fine might be very lenient. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}