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{
    "id": 907496,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/907496/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 297,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "particular afternoon because it was a very interesting debate. We had begun an exchange that clearly justified the Bill. We all celebrated what Sen. Kasanga has done with the Bill especially in terms of ensuring that Members are properly prepared for this Bill on our social media platforms and other avenues where Senators congregate. Sen. Kasanga sent information and very relevant data for us to read in preparation for this particular Bill. That is important and a point for us to pick out some of the things that we need to learn as we go about our duties in this House. Each and every time that you bring a Private Member’s Bill, it is assumed that you do it because it is topic of passion to you and something that you have deeper understanding of and as a legislator, you have seen a way through which we can improve how we execute or sort out the challenges in that particular area of focus. That was a good point for us to learn how to carry ourselves. Madam Temporary Speaker, on the afternoon when this Bill was last before this House, we had a very interesting exchange about the right terms to use when we refer to somebody who has a challenge of mental illness. When Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri was contributing, he made a point that statistics are; out of every 10 Kenyans, four have got a mental disorder. We counted ourselves in the House then and could not decide out of the ten of us who were mentally ill. There were loud protestations and that confirms what the Bill says that we are unaware that mental illness is a disease just like any other. If we were talking about people suffering from Malaria, Diabetes or any other common disease, no one would have taken offence. However, the fact that one of the political jabs that we take at each other on the political forms has to do with mental health. One can say that Senator so and so is mentally deranged. Moving on, after reading through this Bill, seeing some of the proposals and learning about the rights of the mentally disturbed people, we shall become better and know that it is an illness just like any other. Therefore you cannot use it as an insult. How we treat people that are struggling with mental health will change drastically thanks to our reading of this Bill. Madam Temporary Speaker, the month of May was Mental Health Awareness Month. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) did a very interesting piece where they interviewed world celebrated athletes who have various mental health challenges. It was shocking to see some of the people that we have cheered in sports such as Thierry Henry and other people who have lit up homes as we watched them with a lot of excitement thinking that they are all fully okay. Some of the athletes that were interviewed shared that they experienced challenges when they retreat back to their home. The topic of discussion was on how to get people to come out and talk about mental health. How do we get people off the stigma of ensuring that anyone that has this kind of challenge does not hide? One of the things that we will learn later in the Bill is that many of the people that continue to face this kind of challenge shy away from seeking medication and when they are pushed to the wall to the point that they have to get medical attention, what they do is that they try to move heaven and earth in ensuring that nobody knows that they are facing this kind of a challenge. Stigma of this kind is brought about by our misinformation on the nature of challenge that people continue to face out of this disease. 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."
}