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{
    "id": 907595,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/907595/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 396,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Nyamunga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 738,
        "legal_name": "Rose Nyamunga Ogendo",
        "slug": "rose-nyamunga-ogendo"
    },
    "content": "Another issue that is very critical is the fact that Mathari Hospital is the only referral hospital which deals with most mental cases. I know we have rehabilitation homes like the one along Chiromo Road and many others that deal with rehabilitation of people who have been ruined by alcohol or drugs. This eventually affects their mental status. We should make sure that each and every county takes care of their people. People who are mentally sick should not be left homeless because the combination is a very big burden. There is stigma that goes with the mental sickness. In some families, you can find that there are four children who are mentally sick; they are locked in a house somewhere and they are given food through a window. Last week, I saw a young man who had been locked up for about 17 years. The reason for this is that he was so affected when he did not pass exams to make it to the university. Instead of his parents or guardians seeking mental healthcare for him, they just put him in a house and locked him there. They were only passing food through a small window. Those are some of the things that should be looked into; that the mentally sick people must be taken care of. The most important issue that has also been mentioned in this Bill is to make sure that they are rehabilitated and given the protection they need. What can we do as a nation or county to reduce the number of people suffering from mental illnesses? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of joblessness, most people are very helpless and hopeless. Young people do not have jobs. We know of cases of people who are working or doing contracts in the county governments but they area never paid for their services. Some of them have committed suicide and others suffered ill mental health because of the suffering that they go through for different reasons, in different parts of this country. As we put this Bill in place, it is important that we look at it holistically and make sure that we promote the reduction of mental health cases. It has to be reduced and there must be rehabilitation. The impact on the family members must also be reduced to make sure that the rights of these people are taken into account. I want to congratulate my colleague Sen. Kasanga for thinking through the amendment of this Bill because it is very important and critical. It is now our responsibility to make sure that it passes and gets proper funding. Apart from it being a national problem or concern, it has to be a county concern and up to the villages to make sure that our sisters or brothers who are mentally sick are properly taken care of. Even if they are mentally unwell, they are still our relatives and human beings who are supposed to get all the rights that they need. Thank you."
}