Prof. Sam Ongeri

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 521 to 530 of 1925.

• 9 Jun 2020 in Senate: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker for the Statement by Sen. Kasanga. It is important because mental health is one those of illness that are greatly misunderstood. People- including even the ones who call themselves “Normal”- suffer from various types of mental illnesses. They also have some form of mental illnesses because of a state of anxiety on something either family, loss of opportunity, job or loss of a good harvest from the farm and many other activities of that nature. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be ... view
• 9 Jun 2020 in Senate: Consequently, there has been a stigma attached to these kinds of illnesses and yet this can easily pass for a normal illness without any problem of difficulty except that people misunderstand it. Earlier on today, there was an allusion to the stigma on COVID-19 disease. Stigma is a dangerous element to be adopted in any society because it ostracizes or discriminates against that individual who has mental illness of any other illnesses such as the COVID-19. Therefore, they are unwanted in the society. It is a dangerous trend. I may quote from my personal experience when we had the 1999 ... view
• 9 Jun 2020 in Senate: We had the highland malaria which devastated many people and was a pandemic. We were able to bring in measures for treatment. People developed a phobia thinking that if one went to a malaria zone in Nyanza or western Kenya, for instance, and came back to Nairobi they would be told, “Do not bring me the highland malaria.” It was then killing people in droves. We had to put in some measures to clear that tag that this was not a element to worry about. view
• 9 Jun 2020 in Senate: Similarly, infectious diseases like COVID-19 are self-limiting if we follow the instructions that have already been given by the Government. The mode of transmission is cut off if we are able to observe the two-week self-quarantine or forced quarantine with a human face and if we have to treat them in hospitals. This is because after that period, they convalesce and get better and have no virus to transmit to anybody. view
• 9 Jun 2020 in Senate: The stigma that is associated with it is wrong because these people stay with us and their families. The Statement before us is about mental health. What is the Ministry of Health doing to demystify this level of stigma attached to mental illnesses? A mental illness is like a cough, malaria, fever or anything else that will come to an individual. With that brotherly love, care and education, the public, people can get back to normal and be able to do their normal things without any interruption or idea whatsoever whether that they had any form of mental illness. The ... view
• 9 Jun 2020 in Senate: That is why all along, I have been a strict proponent that unless one has extreme types of psychiatric problems which would be managed by some psycho-depressive drugs---. Those would only be handled by the doctors and there are normal ways of dealing with them. They can be put in hospitals which have been set aside for treatment. That does not mean that mental illness will be transmitted from one individual to another. I am talking about this stigma element across the illness that the normal populations get without causing any undue distress. It is very important that we must ... view
• 2 Jun 2020 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to also ventilate on a very important issue on Information Communication Technology (ICT) versus the COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a very unique opportunity, although it is a disaster in itself. It has brought a unique opportunity 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. view
• 2 Jun 2020 in Senate: for us to look at the greater element that would constitute proper and adequate learning for all our learners. Admittedly, there is what should have happened in the past. When I was Minister for Education, Science and Technology, we had made some bigger strides to increase the number of ICT centers in schools. When the programme changed midway, it should have been the responsibility of the Ministry of Education to ensure that the ICT learning was properly put in the hands of our young learners, whether they are in primary, secondary or university. That was never to be. Mr. Temporary ... view
• 2 Jun 2020 in Senate: When there is e-learning, they will be able to access the materials through the television broadcasting system. Currently, it can only do a radius of 120 kilometers and no more. Therefore, the other outlying districts will be affected a great deal. Of course, improving the signal for this--- I belong to the Committee on Education and believe that this is a matter that will probably be prosecuted when we are seized of it. We have done part of this, and I think that we need the cooperation of the Ministry of Education to help us, so that all of us, ... view
• 2 Jun 2020 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to add my voice in congratulating a colleague, friend and a very unassuming personality; very cultured and extremely brilliant. I used all these terminologies having known Sen. (Prof.) Kamar when she joined me at the Ministry of Education in-charge of higher education. We had a legislative agenda to reform the Ministry of Education, both at the higher and lower levels of education, and we were able to do it extremely well with a lot of dignity and progress. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version ... view