Order, Members. We do not seem to have the required quorum. Therefore, I order the Quorum Bell to be rung for 10 minutes.

Order, Members! We have quorum. Those who are streaming in should find places to sit. Business will begin.

Hon. Osotsi. He is absent. Proceed to the next Order.

Hon. Members, on this one, what remained was the Question to be put. Having satisfied that we have the quorum, I put the Question.

We have a similar case again here. What remained was the Question to be put. I proceed to do so.

This one is by Hon. Rose Museo. I see she is in. Proceed to move your Motion.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

THAT, aware that there are over 200 classified types of mental disorders, the most common ones being clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); concerned that Kenya’s mental health policy estimates that about twenty five(25) per cent of out-patients and about forty (40) per cent of in-patients suffer from mental health conditions with the most frequent diagnosis of mental illnesses made in general hospital settings being depression, substance abuse, stress and anxiety disorders; deeply concerned that the current worrying trend of increased domestic violence among Kenyan families has resulted in suicides, deaths, injuries, psychological trauma, orphaned and unstable children; noting that the prevalence of mental disorders may also be attributed to the noted cases of suicide, homicides and violence at household level; further noting that despite the strategies and guidelines that the Government has put in place towards achieving the highest standard of mental health, prevalence of mental disorders remains high, this House urges the Government to urgently establish programmes and interventions to encourage uptake of counselling services among individuals, families and communities to mitigate effects of mental disorders.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to move my Motion on mental illness. Mental illness is a medical condition many Kenyans dismiss as madness, or that someone is probably bewitched. They could be saying the truth, but mental illness is a combination of psychological and physiological processes. I will not go into technical details about mental illness, but I want to connect it very much with what is happening in Kenya today on domestic violence. However, there is a growing body of evidence that mental problems have significantly contributed to domestic violence in our homes. Many people imagine that a mentally ill person is the one who goes speaking alone on the roads or throwing arms in the air or probably walking naked, but we have people who are mentally ill who are very smartly dressed and some even occupy high positions in society but do not know that they are actually sick.

Mental illness could be as a result of a genetic problem. It could also be out of substance abuse, stress or societal frustrations. The number of mentally ill people in Kenya is staggering. Two out of 10 Kenyans have a mental problem.

With regard to domestic violence, hardly a day passes without a spouse killing another or fighting and causing grievous harm to the other. Parents are killing their children and later committing suicide. The latest figures for this year alone show that over 100 Kenyans have died in their homes due to domestic violence. There is a lady in Machakos who had her hands chopped off by the husband last year because they had a problem of not having a baby. It was a case that was spoken about all over. This girl lost her hands at a very young age. We had another case in Makueni. A lady had a problem. She had a quarrel with her husband and the man decided to chop off her two hands and one leg. That lady is maimed. She is completely disabled. Last month, I also found out about another lady aged 65 years, who hanged herself. You find that somebody could be suffering from depression and because of lack of counselling services, the person decides to kill himself or herself. What are we, as leaders in this House and as a society, doing? What I want to put across here is that crime level is escalating because of drug and substance abuse, societal frustrations and lack of employment. People feel that they cannot cope with the current situation and they start doing very bad things. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

As a society and leaders, we must look for solutions after assessing the root causes of fights and killings especially between people who have loved each other as husband and wife, parent and children. Mental illness is real in Kenya and we need to address it. It is a fact that work-related stress and high cost of living induce mental problems leading to suicidal tendencies which result to domestic violence. This Motion calls for urgent intervention to arrest the worrying trend. Let us not wait until it is too late. An example is a case in the USA where there were shootings in a school. It was shocking. Somebody walks into a school or a kindergarten and decides to shoot at the children. You also find a gunman killing 58 people in a concert. That is worrying. We should not wait until Kenya gets to that level when we know we can intervene. I believe there is a strong relationship between mental health and unstable dysfunctional families. That is why our society must not stigmatise mentally ill Kenyans. Parents must also learn to recognise early warnings in their children especially those in teenage years. I urge Kenyans from all walks of life to always seek counselling services whenever faced with stress emanating from work, finances or marital issues. On the other hand, I strongly appeal to the Government and other key stakeholders to set up counselling centres in every county and if possible, in every ward, so that we can reach every mwananchi . There is no reason why local leaders cannot be trained to identify mental illnesses and counsel the local populace. The Government should intervene and train leaders including pastors, teachers, church leaders, priests, chiefs and social workers. As I conclude, I appeal to fellow legislators to initiate programmes and establish centres at county and sub-county levels that will identify persons who need counselling to avoid such tragic incidents. As the saying goes, “a stitch in time saves nine.”

I beg to move and call upon Hon. Joshua Kimilu, Member for Kaiti, to second the Motion.

We will have Hon. Kimilu to second. At the end of it, you must beg to second.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to second the Motion by Hon. Rose Museo, who is the county representative of Makueni. She is also my county Member. It is an honour and a privilege to second the critical Motion that addresses major ignorance in our society. I must commend Hon. Rose Museo for attempting to expose and address the issue that people feel should be hidden away from public glare. It is high time we addressed a sensitive issue such as mental illness. How long shall we keep quiet about it? I have experienced that problem since I have a number of my constituents who are mentally sick. I remember in 1996 when I was in primary school, a police officer was killed by a mentally challenged person in my constituency. This is a serious matter. Some are docile while others are violent. This violence in some occasions leads to physical harm, tragic accidents and even suicide attempts.

All over Kenya, mental problems are not recognised and given the attention they deserve. Who knows the extent they contribute to the level of crime in our country? How many rape cases, killings and murders have occurred due to mental problems? This is an issue we cannot ignore because it is becoming a challenge in our country. I honestly think that mental problem should be accorded a high status as a national threat and a disaster. As my honourable colleague has mentioned, there have been lethal mass shooting in the USA. The latest calamity left 58 people dead. In their schools, it has become a norm for such shootings to occur. In Kenya, who knows where this may happen. It is just a matter of time. We The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

are ignoring a time bomb. We seem to imagine it is only HIV, cancer and road accidents that threaten us. That is wrong. Mental health of Kenyans should be our biggest worry. We should ask ourselves: Are Kenyans individually and collectively mentally healthy?

I support the new regulation by the Government that requires that before you acquire a firearm, you have to produce a letter from a doctor confirming that you are mentally fit. It has come to my attention that we tend to ignore some of these challenges, but this is a serious issue. We need to take it seriously together. We must, as leaders, initiate and implement programmes and interventions that will address this forgotten issue. Let me pose the question: How do we even determine whether our leaders are mentally fit to lead our country? What happens when leaders exhibit signs of bipolar disorder? I support the Motion. Let us seriously challenge our mental experts in all fields to address this issue and show us the way forward. I hope Hon. Museo will follow up on the initiative and come up with a Bill to address this neglected segment of our society. In Kaiti Constituency, you cannot miss one or two mentally unstable people in a market.

Please, second because your time is over.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Every Member is a witness that we have… (off record).

No, you have not seconded on record. I asked you to summarise and you still wanted to give us the history of Kaiti Constituency.

I second.

Members should be encouraged to be making shorter contributions to Motions in future. It is good for everybody, including the persons who are proposing and putting Questions. I have several Members who want to contribute to this debate. I realise that the top-most on my request list is from the same region as the one who has just contributed. So, I go elsewhere. Let us have Prof. Oduol Adhiambo.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. I would like to say, from a personal note, that we experience challenges in the country, ranging from issues of unemployment to issues of poverty and changing gender roles that seem to confuse people in terms of what it means for them in their context as men, women and people who are to provide and look after children. If most of us were to take note, we would see in the social media very disturbing images of young people copying dancing styles that are unheard of. I would, from the outset, say that, indeed, we find, at this point in time, that there is a much- needed intervention to ensure that we have mental health, and that we are able to take advantage of the programme. I would want to recognise the fact that this Motion has come at a point in time where the social fabric of the family has broken. The social support that a lot of us had, regardless of our roles as mothers, fathers and cousins, has really been eroded. We come to a context where we would want to continue to see how it is that we meet needs and ensure that we feel accepted and recognised in our engagements. Therefore, as I support this Motion, I would want to urge that we take note that the counselling we engage in does not degenerate the entire cultural values or indigenous knowledge. When we engage in counselling, quite a number of times, we come across different cultural perspectives and different sorts of values. As the programmes are rolled The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

out - which is very timely - I hope there will be room and opportunity for us to call on our indigenous knowledge and truly benefit from the kinds of circumstances that some would call ‘witchcraft’, but which seemed to have worked before. I hope we will also benefit from the spiritual engagements that those of us who are of faith engage in. As I conclude, I want to remind Members that when we talk about mental health, we might want to think that it affects only those people who are outside, namely, the mad people we perhaps see in marketplaces and in mental hospitals. However, looking at the incidents that took place in our country following the last general election, and what is happening now as exhibited by the news headlines that we see, mental health is indeed a real threat. It is a course we would want to keep so that we can have mentally stable people in all walks of lives, particularly leaders within families, schools and other areas of work to ensure that we perform optimally in order to break the cultural attitude that looks down upon counselling and instead embrace the established structures in the programmes that we offer. With those remarks, I support the Motion.

Very well. Let us have Amin Kassim, Member for Wajir East.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Members, I will give a chance to two or three Members on the other side of the House after Amin Kassim. Proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to express my interest in this Motion. It is, indeed, timely. Most of the social networks that have been in existence have failed in this country. We see young men and women engaging in very obscene activities across the country. We have equally seen a number of youth who of late are, through the social media, engaging in a number of activities that are of no value to us as a society and Africans. Those who are about the age of 35 years are nearly 60 per cent of the population in Kenya. If we do not confront what is unfolding now, as a country, we will degenerate and breed a society that will be a wreck with no hope of providing and nurturing parenthood and all that would be of value to us as Kenyans. We need to put in place measures that are likely to control the society. There are a number of issues that have been responsible for societal failures in terms of discharge of responsibilities. The issues affecting us today are as a result of urbanisation and poverty. Poverty has stricken us. Most people no longer embrace the social fabric that used to be there, which helped in the control of emanation of such cases. The social network that existed before has been disrupted because people are more urbanised. People are not meeting any more. Church goers do not even handle issues affecting their societies any more. Even people who go to mosques do not deal with topics that are of significance to the society with a view to holding it together; a society that is likely to embrace governance amongst ourselves and within families. This is a very timely Motion. These are issues that are affecting us. What we have seen is that nearly 20 per cent of the youth are likely to be affected by this problem. You may be seeing a gentleman who is walking along the streets, but naturally, he is affected by these things. The youth need a fall back, where they can discuss issues affecting their lives as they grow. One thing is clear that these facilities are not available in any of these institutions. I, therefore, strongly recommend that every institution in the country should have a counselling centre or an office that offers counselling services. All institutions of higher learning should be provided with counselling services. This should be cascaded down to every institution and they should handle these issues where people can open up and discuss the issues that affect them. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

There has been lack of employment for the youth and this has been responsible for these issues. You will be surprised that quite a number of young people who have graduated are idle. They have nothing. They are likely to fall into other social vices like drug abuse. As an individual takes drugs or indulges in substance abuse, they will fall into depression and they will be affected psychologically. They need people they can talk to.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have 47 county governments in this country. Counselling should be a decentralised and devolved function. Health is a devolved function. One thing I would like to suggest is that all health institutions should have a counselling centre. The counselling centres should be properly manned by people who are open and can provide services so that the ills that are likely to affect our population are thwarted and controlled for good.

Your time is over. Hon. (Dr.) Pukose would have had the first shot, but he came for a courtesy call here. So, Members might think that I am giving him this opportunity because he was here. I will, therefore, drop you a little lower and give this chance to somebody who is slightly lower than you in the list as you wait. This is meant to discourage Members as much as possible from approaching the Chair during debate. Otherwise, some wrong signals will be sent. So, I am going to give a chance to somebody who is slightly lower than you in the list and that is the Member for Ol Jorok.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support this Motion by the Member for Makueni.

Order, Hon. Pukose! A handshake will not be very useful here. Proceed, Member for Ol Jorok.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion by Hon. Member for Makueni. As we all know, everybody, irrespective of their status and position, undergoes some stressful moments in life. It is at this point that we require somebody that we can vent out to and somebody who can listen to us. So, I support the introduction of counselling services in every institution. In life, we undergo various experiences. Some people undergo job losses, others have relationship problems and others have stress of losing elections. I, therefore, support that in every institution, we require some counselling services. We know that lack of counselling leads to a lot of problems such as mental illness, drug abuse, alcohol addiction, suicide and illicit behaviour like what we are seeing on social media. Of late, we have seen something trending in the media about our youth. We have seen how ‘ifikie wazazi’ slogan by our children is going round. All these problems are symptoms of the problems we are undergoing in our society. We, therefore, need to have vibrant counselling departments in all institutions including learning institutions such as primary and secondary schools and Universities, so that anyone who feels is undergoing some difficult moments, can go and share their problems with the counsellors.

On the issue of counselling, we also need to have highly trained counsellors who will listen to the people who come to them to vent and guide them on the way forward. Counselling will help people who are undergoing difficult moments to get back on their feet and feel empowered and forget the difficult past that they have been experiencing.

With those few remarks, I support the Motion. I insist that the counsellors should be highly trained to know their roles. I support. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I will now give a chance to Hon. Pukose. But next time you come here when you want to be added in the queue, it might be a little difficult for you to get that opportunity. So, proceed, Hon. (Dr.) Pukose.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. The issue of mental illness is a very big challenge. More often, you find that the person having mental illness does not understand that he or she is sick. I will give an example in a story. There was a time when four doctors went hunting. The first one was a surgeon, the second one was a pathologist, the third one was a physician and the fourth one was a psychiatrist.

What about the gynaecologist?

The gynaecologist was not in the team of hunters. These hunters saw an eagle flying. One of them asked the psychiatrist what that was. The psychiatrist said it is an eagle but maybe it does not know that it is an eagle. Then one asked the physician how they can establish whether it is an eagle. The physician said they will have to do a blood group, chest x-ray, full haemogram and all those investigations. One of them said that will take them time. They then asked the surgeon what he thinks the eagle was. The surgeon took his gun, shot it and gave it to the pathologist. The pathologist said the sample was not enough. From that analogy, you can see the psychiatrist saying it is an eagle, but it may not know whether it is an eagle.

Issues of mental illness are very complex. You talk of post-traumatic stress syndromes and anxiety. When we were in medical school, sometimes a lecturer discussed a certain disease and one would think that they had it. When people talk of mental illness, everybody thinks that they have that symptom. Counsellors are not just anybody. A counsellor has to be somebody who is qualified to handle complex cases. Humanity is very complex. Look at how our drivers particularly those in the matatu industry drive on our roads. They cause accidents and mayhem. These are people who should be subjected to mental assessment so that we can establish whether they qualify to drive safely within our roads. This does not spare religion. We have had cases of people selling all their commodities because they have been told by their pastor that the world is coming to an end. You have heard of cases where people have been taken into a place and are told the world is coming to an end and asked to sell all their possessions. These are mental cases. These are people who have been held captive. The pastor has learnt to hold people emotionally and psychologically to surrender all their worldly possessions in the hope that they will get something from above. Karl Marx once said that religion is the opium of the poor. This is a captive. More often, there is nobody within the society that does not understand the issue of forming cults where people are worshiped and where people even move away from God to worship individuals. So, the issue of mental illness is wide ranging. It has far-reaching consequences like drug abuse and killings which occur almost everywhere. You hear in the United States of America people killing each other. I want to support this very noble Motion. I urge this House to support it. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Members, now that we have heard from a doctor, we will now listen to a teacher. He has been teaching these things. Hon. Omboko Milemba. Then we will also look for a herbalist if we have. Proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I beg to equally support the Motion, which provides that we establish programmes and interventions to encourage the uptake of counselling services. However, as I support it, I would wish that we expand our scope so that we do not just look at mental illnesses. The Mover also broadened the Motion enough. I also want to bring to the fore the fact that there are certain departments and institutions that do this, but they The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

have not been institutionalised formally. I, therefore, want to support, but still propose that every Government department, institution and ministry should institutionalise counselling services for its workers. In every place of work, there is not only the issue of mental illness, but also the issue of stress. In fact, what affects Kenyans as a social problem is stress. Coming back to the constituencies, we lack counselling services within the areas of our jurisdiction. I would support very strongly that there is need for the Government to post tacticians who know the issues of counselling in every constituency so that they can work alongside the Members of Parliament’s offices and provide counselling services. More than often, Members of Parliament are confronted with issues of counselling that range from family issues, drug issues among the youths and broken families. It is also true that sometimes, because of lack of trained people to tackle the issue of counselling, other groups have come to pretend that they are doing counselling but at the end of the day, they end up misusing the people who want the counselling services. So, it is in order and I fully support that these counselling services be provided and be accessed from the community. We can train the already available labour within the community. We have chiefs and community health workers who can be trained to provide counselling services within their areas of jurisdiction. Coming to schools, they made an effort to establish counselling services in the institutions but it was not institutionalised in a way that counsellors are paid. So primary and secondary schools, tertiary colleges and universities should be areas of focus for counselling services. We should make sure that counsellors or teachers providing these services are remunerated for the work they are doing. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Without much ado, I beg to support.

Let us have Hon. (Dr.) David Sankok.

Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Mental disability, which is brought about by mental illness, is a silent and hidden type of disability, just like the deaf community. You may not identify somebody with mental disability or hearing impairment. We end up handling them in a manner that will even worsen their type of illness or disability. If you meet somebody with hearing impairment on the streets crossing the road and you hoot and come out abusing the fellow for not hearing, it is the same scenario in which we handle somebody with mental illness. Sometimes we charge them with criminal offences which may not be of their own doing. My suggestion is that first of all, we give the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) mandate to assess, register and advise on those with mental illness. They should offer their advice to the employers, institutions of learning and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) when they are registering drivers, because we do not know if some drivers cause accidents because of mental illnesses. The NCPWD, after registering people with mental disability, should give advice to the firearms licensing offices. Sometimes you end up having private firearm holders who are mentally ill. When they cause problems, it is the only time that we say that they should be taken to hospital for mental assessment, which we should have prevented before it happened. Most of our kids who are below the age of 18 years spend most of their time with teachers. Almost nine months in a year, our children are with teachers. We need to train teachers and equip them with counselling skills so they can detect the kids who may be tending towards mental illness. Early detection sometimes will lead to proper treatment and healing. We need to train our teachers, not only primary school teachers, but also secondary school teachers and The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

college lecturers. They stay with our children for a longer time than the parents. Even before parents can detect mental illnesses in their children, teachers should have detected the illnesses. We also have to differentiate between mental illness and drug abuse. A person may not be mentally stable and so, this can lead to drug abuse and even rape tendencies. Sometimes drug abuse itself is what leads to mental illness. Sometimes depression after rape will lead to mental illness. So we should differentiate the two so that we can know how to handle the victims. We should train our provincial administration officials so that when cases of rape or drug abuse are brought before them, they can advise the medical fraternity on how to handle the person if it was drug abuse leading to mental illness or mental illness leading to drug abuse. Lawyers should also be trained so that when they are handling these cases, they know how to do it. Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Maanzo.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. A lot of Members here have heard that when there is a murder case, the suspect is first tested whether he or she is mentally ill and whether they are fit to answer charges. This should not only happen in murder cases but should expand to many other serious crimes. In a situation where it turns out that a person who commits murder is mad, or mentally unstable, they are never charged. Recently in Makueni, there is a police officer who shot the Officer Commanding Police Station (OCS). The first thing was to check whether he was mentally ill. It turned out, as was said by the community, that in a week or so, this officer would be seen walking alone and looking very unstable, but that information never got to the police department or any administrator in good time. This Motion is very important. Health is now devolved and counties should take charge. The national Government should deal with policy matters. There should be a policy such that cases of mental illness are detected at the right moment and in critical time so that a lot of deaths that we witness can be stopped.

On a point of order.

Order Members! Hon. Wamunyinyi, what is out of order? Just a minute, Member for Makueni.

Hon. Wamunyinyi, let us give you the next microphone.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to rise on a point of order. The Motion before the House is such an important Motion. Looking at the content and having recalled that we have this problem as a country and world over, in the last Parliament, we brought a Bill which this House passed. I am talking about the Counsellors and Psychologists Bill, which now is an Act of Parliament. It covers all the issues that are provided in this Motion. What is being prayed for is captured properly in the Act. So, while I have no intention of scuttling the Motion, would I be in order to ask whether it would have been important that the Committee on Implementation gives us the status of the Act, whether this law has been implemented or not? If the law I am talking about was implemented then, we would not be making the same prayers before the House. Thank you. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I hear you, Hon. Wamunyinyi. I am alive to that because I was part of the Members who participated in that particular debate. However, looking at the Bill that was passed into law, it was mostly looking for a way of managing the professionals in the sector. Indeed, as you correctly put it, it also included some parts of what Hon. Rose Museo is proposing in the Motion. Hon. Museo is looking at the issues of the disorder. After she succeeds in having this Motion go through the House, she can quietly discuss with you and try and see if we can amend part of the sections of the Act or strengthen the law that you sponsored. She could propose amendments to some sections to strengthen it. On the issue of the Committee on Implementation, once a law has been passed, the role of the Committee on Implementation will be overtaken and will be something that has to be followed up. I, however, agree with you that the law that you sponsored catered for almost everything that Hon. Rose Museo is proposing, but there could be a few areas which you would want to tighten. So, since this has been approved, we will proceed to the tail end of it and see what can be done to improve the particular Act, which you managed. Hon. (Dr.) Pukose, I know you were one of the Members in the Committee.

Yes, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I was the Vice-Chairman of the Energy Committee in the 10th Parliament and Susan was our clerk. I can see her here. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Bill, which was courtesy of Hon. Wamunyinyi in the last Parliament, is now an Act. It establishes the management of professionals in the counselling profession. However, what Hon. Museo is bringing is the uptake of what Hon. Wamunyinyi established. So, they complement each other because this is uptake of that service that Hon. Wamunyinyi sponsored. It will be important for the Committee on Implementation to follow up on that Act and ensure that it is complemented by this uptake. It is because Hon. Museo is fronting for the establishment of programmes and interventions to encourage uptake of counselling services. So, they complement each other.

Looking at it quickly, because, luckily, we have gadgets nowadays that bring them up fast enough, what Hon. Wamunyinyi brought was an Act of Parliament to provide for training, registration, licensing, practice and standards of counsellors and psychologists and for connected purposes. Hon. Wamunyinyi, yours was basically the issue of training, registration and management of the counselling providers. What Hon. Rose Museo is bringing is just to improve a little bit to include consumers of the same policy. Looking at it, it could be complementary. It is good that you have raised it, so that Hon. Rose Museo knows that she could propose some of these amendments in the Act which you brought and sponsored. What is it Hon. Gikaria? Is it the same thing? Yes, proceed. Let us hear because I think it is good for us.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. What Hon. Wamunyinyi and Dr. Pukose have just indicated is that upon the advice of your office in the last Parliament… It is good to encourage Members to bring these kinds of Motions. However, we have always advised that Members need to make a follow-up of their Bills and then Acts of Parliament. I was in the Committee on Implementation in the last Parliament and it was very difficult to work some times. You urge, it is passed in Parliament, but then there are no budgetary provisions. So, a follow-up of that becomes impossible because every time you want to do what is being requested in a Motion, say, asking the Government to establish programmes, you are told there are no finances. Therefore, as you said, could be the best thing to do would be for the Clerk’s office to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

advise Members on Motions whose terms have already been covered in certain Acts. We could then work on improving the existing Acts of Parliament through amendments. That is the way to go. As Hon. Wamunyinyi said, make a follow-up on the Act, identify the shortcomings and bring some amendments to the Act so that we can actualise it. At the end of the day, as already advised, the question would be: What next? It is a Bill or an Act of Parliament, but it has budgetary provisions. Your advice in the 11th Parliament was critical and that is the way to go so that we do not just talk in vain. I totally agree with what you are saying about its complementarity, but it is good for the Committee to have a basis upon which to make an actual follow-up on implementation. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker

Okay, I hear you. For purposes of Hon. Wamunyinyi, that is an Act. It is not even an issue of the Committee on Implementation. It is something that has a life of its own. For the Motion which Hon. Rose Museo has brought, if it matures and becomes an amendment that will be perfect. When we have a Motion in place, the Committee on Implementation should thrash out some of these things, so that they are sorted out without necessarily passing them as law. If her Motion matures and can amend the law by Hon. Wamunyinyi, this will be better. I am sure that she is listening carefully.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Nyamai, you are the former Chair of that Committee and not the current one. Let me give you anyway, probably you have something to speak on this.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I take this opportunity to add my voice on what has been raised by Hon. Wamunyinyi. Indeed, he brought several Bills which materialised into law but their focus was on trained personnel, registration including collection of funds and coming up with institutions. What Hon. Museo has come up with is kind of pushing the law and enabling implementation.

The word ‘urge’ in the Motion is problematic because when we are structuring Motions we are encouraged to use it by the secretariat at the Table Office. However, Hon. Museo has brought a very good debate which will enhance implementation of this law and I would like to encourage her. Just like the former Chair Hon. Pukose has said, we participated in coming up with this Bill and later it become law. The best thing for Hon. Museo to do is to go further and look at the law itself, and find a way of putting this Motion in place, so that it can be implemented.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity.

Lastly on this, before Hon. Wamunyinyi, let us hear Hon. Wanga. This is a healthy debate and I think I should open it a little for Members to participate.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. This regards the relatedness of what Hon. Museo has brought to the Counsellors, Psychologists and Psychotherapists Bill brought in the last Parliament by Hon. Wamunyinyi. I can remember it very well because this reminds me of the late Hon. Nyenze. I have seen Hon. Edith Nyenze and I congratulate her. The reason why I vividly remember it is because the late Hon. Nyenze while making his contribution thought we were talking about physiotherapists and he said, you know these psychotherapists stretch your legs and arms.

When it comes to training of cadres and how a specific health cadre is regulated this is very different from implementing the issues which Hon. Museo has raised. The Counsellors, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Psychologists and Psychotherapists Bill regulate them and how they operate just like the Engineers Registration Act regulates engineers and how they operate. So, we are talking on how to have counsellors in our communities to help us resolve the issues at hand. I do not see how having this Bill will impede us from debating this very important matter. Whether this amends that law or becomes an Act on its own is a matter for the Mover to pursue.

I agree with you that this matter is on a path of its own. It will better the Bill we already have by making a difference in people’s lives. Our constituents have turned us into counsellors because the community systems have broken. You can find a man and his wife who are about 60 years old coming to your home to tell you about their marital problems and many Members here are very young. You do not know how to start counselling them or whether to go for counselling classes so that you can operate. The fabric is torn and we really need this Motion.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

I do not understand why there is a lot of interest on this second bit. Let me give one more Member because Hon. Wamunyinyi will be the last one on this. Let us hear the Member for Kitui East, Hon. Mbithuka.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to look at the issues being addressed concerning the Motion on the establishment of programmes and interventions to encourage uptake of counselling services. Looking at our society and cultures we are very much aware that…

Are you contributing or making a point of order.

I am on a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Yes, go to it.

From what Hon. Wamunyinyi is saying, we need these programmes even if we have a Bill. These programmes should be in isolation because the problems they are addressing cut across the country. Looking at medical issues, counselling services are very important. It is not right to say that by enacting this Motion, it will contravene any other Act or law in our country. The people who are suffering from these conditions cannot come here to speak for themselves. Therefore, I urge this House through your guidance to allow the Motion to go on, because it is addressing serious challenges affecting our country.

Lastly, Hon. Wamunyinyi and then I can rule on it.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I can see clarification concerning the matter I raised and the issues are being sort out. This Motion is urging the Government to establish programmes and interventions to encourage uptake of counselling services among individuals, families and communities to mitigate the effect of mental disorders.

This is related to the existing law and this bit should be captured to the extent of this law being implemented. Programmes should be put in place to ensure that Kenyans are served and enjoy counselling services in the society. Counselling units should be established in schools, Government departments, our devolved units, even sub-counties and sub-locations. This will go a long way in ensuring that the Motion by my sister the Hon. Member is realised. Kenyans will benefit from these services as was earlier envisaged by the law which was passed. I have no problem with the Motion going on and of course with your guidance and Members interventions and contributions it makes a lot of sense. We can improve on the existing law or push for the implementation of the law as it was passed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

I want to refer Members to Standing Order No.209(2) on the work of Committee on Implementation, it states. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

“(2) The Committee shall scrunitise the resolutions of the House (including adopted committee reports,) petition and undertakings given by the National Executive and examine-” For example, even if the Motion was to pass, the business of the Committee on Implementation should be to scrunitise and see how it can be adopted. However, most importantly for Hon. Wamunyinyi look at Standing Order No.209 (b) which says: “whether or not legislation passed by the House has been operationalised and where operationalised, the extent to which such operationalisation has taken place within the minimum time necessary.”

Look at that particular one. What I am just saying is that you could also approach the Committee and see the extent to which the particular laws that were passed were operationalised. These are issues that you could approach the Committee to help your colleagues and see how we can put this together and improve the particular Act that you helped create. I urge that we proceed with the Motion. It is good. It is complementary to what you passed and I think we will be able to achieve more if this goes ahead. So, let us proceed with the Member for Makueni.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to say that even in very advanced democracies where enactment of laws has progressed and where matters health and mental health are very advanced like the United States of America, recently when a former student walked into a school and shot innocent children, the country was taken aback and was quickly looking for solutions when the event had happened. What we are doing with this Motion is we are preparing ourselves so that we reduce occasions whereby such matters could happen. If teachers detect a student has a particular mental issue… There is a saying that every market has a mad person and that mad person one day can turn against someone or against traders all of a sudden. This Motion urges that somebody takes action right now. County governments are there. We have our own constituency offices, devolved units, the national Government, hospitals and dispensaries. Somebody can note a person is behaving abnormally and take action. It can also happen in a family. Many families which have such persons do not know where to take them. They do not know when to act and who to talk to in many occasions. Along the way something happens with this particular person. Many suicide cases involve people who are actually mentally sick but the people around did not take any action. All of a sudden you realise that somebody who was very normal and well-schooled with a very good job and qualifications commits suicide. Some of the cases involve people who are already either on cancer or HIV/AIDS medication and one day, all of a sudden, this person realises that he or she no longer needs to be alive and the family is left wondering whether they could have done something about it. There are a many murder cases and cases of violence. The Mover has talked about violence in homes or even family breakups. Most of them are actually instigated by mental illnesses which were not detected in good time. Even stress leads to mental illness. It leads to not only that but also to other diseases like heart diseases, high blood pressure and things like that. If this is managed early enough by the health sector and by all of us working together as it appears in this Motion, we will be able to save lives and take care of people and handle illnesses which have been ignored for a long time. I really thank Hon. Wamunyinyi for what he brought to Parliament. That particular law dealt with professionals themselves. This Motion is dealing with the real situation. If we marry the two, we will have a good effect in the country and we will get the implementation of that The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

particular Act. We will get county governments dealing with health and get a direction from the national policy which is supposed to be handled by the Ministry of Health. Therefore, I really urge Members to support this Motion. We should begin acting for the constituents we represent. We should begin looking for solutions for the people we see are mentally unwell. Teachers in the education sector should realise or note such children with a history of ill mental health. If those histories are documented early enough, then medication can be accorded. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I support and thank you for giving me this opportunity.

We will have Hon. Lomurukai Ekamais.

Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this very important Motion brought by Hon. Rose. I think it will be very prudent that we seriously support this Motion because the contents of the Motion are so important. About two months ago, I visited our Director of Education to discuss how we can help the teachers on issues of stress. There are so many teachers who have lost their lives because of issues of stress. This Motion, therefore, tries to really find ways of mitigating such. There are cases in the medical fraternity where even the medics perform some unnecessary action even against the patients. This attracts counsellors to really try to help these issues. It will be very important that the Kenya Counselling and Psychologists Association finds ways of taking lead in trying to help our community on issues of mental illness. The Ministry of Health should also allow the registered counsellors or psychologists to offer or give out services that are related to mitigation of these very important issues.

There is alcoholism and drug addiction. It will be very important that we bring out the uptake of these services so that those alcoholics who are in our communities get proper ways of stopping taking alcohol. It will be very important to help community groups or even individuals to try to end matters that lead to mental illness or issues that lead them to indulge in other issues that will affect their professions or their living. For those few remarks, I beg to support this very important Motion.

We will have Hon. Oyioka Oroo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Motion as brought by Hon. Museo. When you look at the system of education in the country at the moment, that is where guidance and counselling should begin because everybody in Kenya must go through primary and secondary school and a few will go through colleges and universities. The issue of guidance and counselling is ignored simply because it is not examinable. There is this necessary evil called examination-oriented education in Kenya today. If you go a secondary school where guidance and counselling is done and you get into a class during that period, you might find somebody teaching mathematics, physics or languages instead of giving the student guidance and counselling. I feel something ought to be done so that more emphasis is placed on this issue. When it comes to opening counselling places in our hospitals and barazas, I fail to understand how those The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

who are supposed to be guided or counselled would know that they are sick because everybody usually says that he or she is fine. I say I am fine and do not need any guidance and counselling. Everybody else might be saying that. Apart from the people who are roaming the streets because they are sick, how shall we determine that so-and-so needs guidance and counselling? Maybe, we need to look into that more closely. There was a case I came across in my constituency at the beginning of the year. I was called because people wanted to lynch a half-naked woman. I rushed to the scene and arrived at the spur of the moment. They had brought paraffin, firewood was there in plenty and they wanted to lynch the woman. However, there was a man who kept on saying that he knew the woman, and that she was not normal. He told them that she was a mad woman and that they were killing an innocent person. I found this person still insisting the moment I arrived. I talked to my people. I told them to take this person to hospital and find out what was happening with her. The person who had instigated this was a man who found this woman sitting at his doorstep when he opened the door at 6.00 a.m. She was simply sitting there half-naked. He concluded that she had gone there to bewitch him or do something sinister. When he yelled and called the other people, they collected firewood and were ready to lynch the woman on the pretext that she was a witch. After speaking to them, they allowed me to take the woman to hospital, where she was tested and found to be deranged. She was not normal. She underwent treatment and is still on drugs. The problem is actually subsiding. We should look for ways of finding out who needs counselling because innocent people might be killed. There are men who have been killed not because they have messed up with anybody, but because they are deranged in their ways of thinking. With those remarks, I support the Motion.

Let us have Hon. Mishi Mboko, Member for Likoni.

Hon. (Ms.) Mishi Mboko Juma Khamisi): Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I want to make my maiden speech. I want to thank the people of Likoni Constituency for electing the first woman to represent them. It was a very hotly contested battle but I thank God that I managed to become the first female Member of Parliament (MP) in that constituency. I want to tell the people of Likoni Constituency that I am here to join efforts with all the residents - those who voted for me and those who did not. All of us are Kenyans and residents of that constituency. We need to work together to ensure that we better the lives of our people. Asante sana and may God bless them for trusting a woman to be in that position. It was very tough. At least we have set a good precedent and trend so that other girls and women who want to aspire for elective positions can also compete with men and acquire such positions. I want to congratulate my sister, Hon. Rose Museo, for coming up with this very important Motion. Counselling is an educational experience. It teaches somebody to understand some particular conditions such as depression, anxiety and others. When you understand a particular condition, you can have some options on treatment or how you will tackle such an issue. We have witnessed students in secondary and primary schools, and in universities, killing themselves and fighting each other, burning schools and doing all sorts of evil things. All those things could be avoided if only we could have effective counselling centres, with teachers who have the capacity to give counselling services. We have also seen in our families that there are some disputes, especially relating inheritance. During those processes, we have seen family members killing and fighting each other because of inheritance. If we could also devolve The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

counselling services through the county governments in our constituencies, learning institutions, private sectors, and also in our public sectors, we could avoid all these things. There are people who have used hard drugs for a long time and have gone for rehabilitation. If they do not get counselling, they cannot get back their self-esteem. They cannot accept their position. We also need to complement rehabilitation with counselling services so that those people can go back to the society, gain confidence and become better citizens. We have also witnessed a lot of post-election conflicts in our country. There were tribal clashes where people from different communities killed each other. If there were no counselling services, there would be no cohesion. I can attest that even in my constituency, where there were the Kaya Bombo clashes, after those clashes, there were so many personnel who were brought to the constituency to offer some counselling, especially to the youth who were involved in the clashes. We need to have this service so that we can have conflict resolution and peace-building. I also want to agree that we need to work hard and come up with an amendment to the Mental Health Act. The condition of mental health centres in our country are wanting. We have very few mental health centres. In my county, we only have one at Port Reitz. The only centre we have does not have enough equipment or medical doctors. We have few resources such that those affected cannot get some counselling. If we can have some counselling centres, they can complement the services they are getting. We also have incurable diseases in our country, such as HIV/AIDS. For all those people to accept themselves and get back their self-esteem, they need a lot of counselling. It is high time we devolve those services.

Hon. Mishi, that was a very good delivery. However, it was not your maiden speech. You did that a long time ago. A maiden speech is literally as it were; like virginity. Once you lose it you never regain it even if you remarry. This is your second time in this House. You had given your maiden speech in the other one. Those Members who intend to give their maiden speeches need to understand the difference between a maiden speech and a speech in your second term. There is a technical difference. But that was a very good delivery, Hon. Mishi. I would like to give this opportunity to Hon. Mukhwana Khamala, Member for Lurambi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand to support the Motion by Hon. Rose Museo on establishment of programmes and interventions to encourage uptake of counselling services. Being a bishop and having spent two years in the United States of America (USA) in a counselling school, I realise that we have many problems in our society. Those problems can be solved through professional counselling. As we move forward as a nation into a life of modernisation whereby we are now in a global village where people move from one area and country to another, we need to invest more in counselling services. We need to invest in counselling centres. When I was in school in the USA, someone asked why I was studying for a degree in Christian counselling. He wondered where I would take it to and how much money I would earn out of it. We have so many people who have so many problems that can be solved through counselling. I continue to serve in church. I have come across cases of men of the cloth who are not trained in counselling. They have the gift to preach but they have not gone through any formal education that will assist them to carry out their spiritual work with professionalism. For example, we had a case whereby a woman had a problem with her husband. She went to the pastor and told him that her husband did not love her. She also told him to pray for her. The The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

pastor began to put it into practice. He laid his hands on the woman. The hands moved from the head to the toes. It is a crime in our spiritual world and society because people do not understand how it is done. Therefore, this Motion is very important for us and our country.

We had a case whereby a young boy who was in high school committed suicide because the father was unable to pay school fees. Look at those two things. If we had a counselling opportunity, this boy would be counselled and another opportunity would have presented itself and he would have gone back to school. It is very important that we support counselling services and this Motion. People are in jail today. Some are in prison because they were not counselled in their situations of life. Some of the challenges that they underwent pushed them to commit the crimes. If they would have been taken to a counselling centre or come into contact with a counsellor, they would have resolved them. This should also be brought to our learning institutions as earlier echoed by one of the Members in the House. It should begin right from the bottom. We should not think about it at the university level. We should begin with Early Childhood Development (ECD), primary school and high school. That is where it begins.

Therefore, I support this Motion.

Hon. Mbai Mbithuka, Member for Kitui East.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I had risen on a point of order earlier. I am pleased to rise again to support the Motion. There is a soft resistance from the population to counselling services in our society. The elderly and young people suffer from conditions which can be addressed through counselling. That is not permitted in a society where counselling is a kind of a therapy. It can treat and it is scientific.

Most of these conditions which require counselling services have a psychological background. You visit a counsellor after you talk to a traditionalist in the village. Psychological and mental issues are associated with curses by the elderly or witchcraft. When you talk to a psychologist, he will tell you that it is all in your mind. You need to work it out in your mind and things will change. When you talk to a psychiatrist, he will tell you there is chemical imbalance. So, the point of the matter is that this condition has a scientific solution. Early stages of all the mental conditions can be addressed through counselling.

I run Nimrod Mbai Motivation Programme. It is based towards encouraging the youths, especially post-college and post-secondary who are form four leavers. I have mingled with the youths for the last six years. They find it a challenge to manoeuvre around the world, earn a living and give back to the society and parents. They give up and end up into drugs. If they are girls, they end up in early or forced marriages, or unwanted sex that brings in unwanted and unplanned kids. This can be addressed through the psychological approach which states that it is all in your mind. Unless the society accepts counselling as a scientific way of solving most of these issues, we will have a challenge that will consume our society. It really hurts our youths and their parents.

I advise that we look at it in two ways. First of all, we should establish the counselling fraternity. We have enough counsellors in our primary schools, secondary schools and colleges. This can be approached by training the teachers. For example, counselling services should be a course in the curriculum of primary teachers education. This will empower our primary school teachers to be professional counsellors. If you go to the university, there are students who are pursuing Bachelor of Education course. We should have a counselling unit or course which deals with counselling, so that by the time students graduate from Kenyatta University, they are already professional counsellors. Most of the issues we have in our secondary schools can be The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

addressed through that. We can also have a counselling course for the teachers who are geared towards teaching in our colleges. Lastly, we should encourage the community to accept counselling as a mode of treatment. If we managed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), we can manage these mental conditions.

I beg to support the Motion. Thank you.

We shall have Hon. Ombaka, Member for Siaya.

I thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute. You have said that I am a Member for Busia. I am not from Busia. I come from Siaya County. I am Dr. Ombaka, Member for Siaya.

That is precisely what I said.

Okay. I did not hear that very well. I want to contribute to this Motion because it is very important. I am aware of the law which we passed in the last Parliament because I participated in it. It was to form associations and organisations that would be registered and licensed. It was a law that established these institutions.

This Motion talks about programmes that go with those institutions. We have those programmes. People who suffer from various mental illnesses can access them so that they can be helped. That is my understanding of this Motion. It is programme based. We need more information on where the services can be found, once they are established. I support it. The people who are ill, suffering from stress, those who are anxious about issues, those who have psychological problems or generally mental illness will access the services so that they can healed. These programmes are good but they are too few or not well established in schools. Teachers are generally trained in psychology and on how to deal with people with problems. When it comes to teaching, they do not have enough time to counsel students. We see a lot of violence in schools, dormitories being burnt and students attacking another school. The country is stressed with various problems. Everybody is stressed here. These services are very critical and necessary, but people do not know that they are available because nobody has told them. It is not only within the school context where these services are required for young people but also for married people. We have seen violence in families. We have witnessed people killing one another, for instance, a father killing his children together with the wife and the entire extended family. What we normally do is to arrest the perpetrators of violence, but nobody knows that even the perpetrator needs psychological treatment or counselling. We also need to give counselling services to families where violence takes place.

There are many types of gender-based violence like rape. Rapists are sick people. They need these services. We should not just arrest them and put them in prison for five years. They need to be given some training and then counselled so that when they come back to society, they do not rape again.

To conclude, this matter must be spread out all over because we are in the era of HIV/AIDS. I worked in this area quite a lot. I even did my research and other things in this area. When the disease sets in, there were many centres that were established for testing and counselling. Today, they are almost not there. I do not know where they went to. We need to bring them back so that people can use them. Thank you for giving me this opportunity and I support this very important Motion.

We shall have Hon. Mohamed,Member for Lamu. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Ahsante Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi hii ili nichangie. Suala hili linatuathiri hata sisi Wabunge. Kuna wale waliogombea viti vya ubunge lakini hawakufanikiwa kupata. Ingekuwa vyema wapate huduma za ushauri nasaha kwa sababu wamebaki tu kwenye Facebook wakitutukana. Nafikiri kuna ugonjwa fulani ambao umewaingia. Inafaa washauriwe kwa nasaha. Hata sisi tukitoka hapa na tusifanikiwe kurudi tena, inafaa tushauriwe ili tujue namna ya kuwahudumia watu wetu.

Pia inastahili ushauri upatiwe wanaotafuta kura au wale ambao hawakupata kiti chochote ambacho walikuwa wakiwania. Wao hupata shida sana wanapokosa ushindi ama kuteuliwa. Pia, watu wengi hupata shida wakati wanatarajia jambo fulani lakini halitokei. Wanafaa wapate ushauri nasaha. Katika depression kuna viwango tofauti kama vile kutokubali. Kuna viwango vingi ambavyo mtu hupitia kabla ya kufikia depression .

Haya yanatokea zaidi kule Lamu kwa maafisa wa Serikali. Kwa mfano, polisi wakikaa pahali kama Kiunga kwa muda mrefu, wanasumbuka akili hadi wengine hutatizika kwa utenda kazi wao. Wanasumbua wananchi kusudi washtakiwe ili wapate faida ya kutolewa mahali hapo kwa sababu wamekaa kwa muda mrefu, kwa mfano, miaka saba. Wanahitaji ushauri nasaha ili wasaidike. Hata walimu wanahitaji huduma hizi. Walimu wanaofanya kazi kule Kiongwe, Boni Forest, wanastahili wapate huduma hizi kwa sababu sehemu hii ni ya kutisha. Inawasumbua akili hadi familia zao zinatatizika. Saa nyingine wanafanya vitendo vya kushangaza hadi unajiuliza kama wao ni binadamu au la. Kumbe huwa ni matatizo yanayotokana na ile hali wako nayo kule Lamu.

Maafisa wengine wa Serikali wanaohitaji ushauri nasaha ni wale wanaofanya kazi katika Huduma Centre. Lamu inastahili kuwa ya kwanza kupata huduma hizi. Tunazihitaji sana kwa sababu watu wengi hupigana wao kwa wao. Hata wenyenji wa Lamu East wanakatana kwa mapanga kwa sababu ya kukosa ajira. Imewaharibu akili. Wengine wanaenda sehemu ambazo hazifai. Wengi wao wamevuka mpaka na kwenda hadi Somalia kwa sababu wana shahada lakini hawana kazi. Wakipata ushauri nasaha utawasaidia sana. Wengine wanaingilia mambo ya kusikitisha. Tumefanya assessement ya vijana na tukapata hivi: katika wadi ya Faza, asilimia 20 ya vijana wana maradhi ambayo wao hawajasema wako nayo. Hawajawambia bibi zao. Wengine wameengia kwa mihadarati. Utasikitika kwamba huko Lamu hasa wadi za Faza na Mkomani,

imewaingia watu na hawana la kufanya. Kwa hiyo wameingilia matumizi ya mihadarati sana. Vijana wetu Lamu wameisha. Hatuna vijana Lamu. Vijana ambao wameingilia matumizi ya mihadarati na kwa mambo mabaya ni asilimia 57 kwa makadirio ya daktari. Haya yote yametokea kwa sababu wamekosa huduma za ushauri nasaha. Wangeitwa, wakalishwe chini na waelezwe hali ilivyo wangekuwa faida kwa Serikali, Lamu na Kenya nzima.

Nakubaliana na haya na mwenzangu aliyependekeza Mswada huu. Ingekuwa vizuri utiliwe mkazo utusaide sote. Akina mama wanaona vibaya watoto wao wakipotea.

Ahsante.

Hon. Mogaka, Member for West Mugirango.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I wish to support the Motion as moved by the Member. It has come at such a time when we are experiencing very drastic actions taken by people due to lack of counselling services. I wish all the learning institutions in the Republic of Kenya, right from Early Childhood Centres (ECDs) to universities, established counselling centres. By so doing, we will be able to reduce drastically the incidents we have experienced in the recent past. This is not only The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

happening in institutions; we have seen domestic disputes which have resulted in deaths. This is mainly because we do not have adequate counselling services. This Motion has come at a time when the country is facing threats from stress experienced by our people.

The Motion should be implemented so that every ward or constituency gets counselling services from the Government. The Government should also come up with an elaborate programme where counsellors are trained so that they have counselling skills. We lack counselling facilities even in our hospitals. The sub-county and county hospitals do not have counselling facilities. It is high time the Government embraced this aspect. Once this Motion is passed, it will be upon the Committee on Implementation to ensure that the Motion is implemented. Therefore, I support the Motion. Thank you.

Hon. Rindikiri, Member for Buuri.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this very important Motion. I come from Buuri Constituency, which is highly cosmopolitan. We have the largest wheat and flower farms in Meru. We also have a large pool of people who are not from the Meru community. When emigrants go to new places, they experience rejection from the inhabitants, meaning that they need to be integrated to the communities they join. Counselling centres will give them an opportunity to learn how to relate with the local community. In the recent past, as my colleagues have said, we have witnessed a very unique trend where a father wakes up, hacks his wife to death together with the children and hangs himself. This is a very hardworking person meaning that there is a problem as people grow. My daughter is in Canada and my son is in the UK. The first thing they did when they arrived there was to be taken through counselling sessions on how to adjust to the society. The economy is growing and people are moving. They are going to new heights. Psychological problems are related to development. Even where there is a lot of development, there are people with mental problems. That is where we have people interacting more. That presents opportunities for drugs for the youth and other related issues. This Motion is a wake-up call to all of us that we have a problem right at the grassroots. We are interacting day and day on Facebook, TV and all that. Our youth are trying to adjust to the life in America because of what they are seeing on TVs. Our youth are trying to imitate the lifestyles of the West as shown by TV. We need to bring them to the reality of our situation where we are at the grassroots. Therefore, counselling is very critical to our society at this particular moment. We have all come from elections. We have witnessed tribal clashes. We have seen a very rare situation where the President and the former Prime Minister have shaken hands. That has brought problems to some people even in this Parliament. That handshake, in as much as it is good, has caused a problem. Some of us require counselling. This counselling cannot be done in Nairobi. It needs to be done at the constituency level because they were relying on Uhuru and Raila to give them political support which is no more. So, they need help. As Members of Parliament, we also need help. We have workers like house helps who we leave with our children. What has happened? It has led to kidnapping, rape, and all that. It is not just establishing centres but making it a life- moving circumstance such that from the basic level to a kid or a teacher in school, it is a concern for everybody. The counselling centres need to be joined with other institutions of the Government because counselling cannot work. We need teachers to be counselled. So, the education system The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

and the security system need to be part of this process. Workers, employers and, employees need to be counselled. We need to counsel some employers like those…

Hon. Rindikiri, your time is up. You are proposing that the Members should be tied to their constituencies and counselled because of the handshake. That is interesting. We shall have Hon. Mukwe Lusweti, Member for Kabuchai.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity. This is a very important Motion because it touches on lives of people. As my friend has said, it is also affecting us Members of Parliament. We have those ones who are taking care of their loved ones in hospital. Someone can stay in hospital for almost five years. The person taking care of that patient is stressed. So establishing centres for counselling is very important. Yesterday, I was reading an article on WhatsApp . Mrs. Matiba was narrating how she was tortured and beaten. Eventually, the husband also went through such stress. Such things stress our people. They need to be counselled. There are those who are wrongfully jailed. They stay in prison for 10 years. When the appeal is made in court, such a person may be released. You will always be stressed because you believe you were jailed wrongfully and released without compensation. We must establish counselling centres in our areas like at the constituency level, in hospitals and in schools as colleagues have said because this is affecting everybody. We have Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across Bungoma County who have lived there since 1992. Up to date, they have not been resettled. They are living in makeshift camps. During rainy seasons like what we are going through, they do not have shelter or food. The children are not going to school. So, such people ought to be counselled. We have killer diseases like HIV/AIDS, cancer and accidents. Parents with physically handicapped children need some counselling so that they can also lead a good life. To wind up, parents whose children die in school dormitories need counselling. They die in dormitories that have been set ablaze by their colleagues. Parents go for their children but those children are killed; they are set ablaze and die in dormitories. It stresses parents because you expect your child to go to school, come back and may be assist you in life but he dies hopelessly like that. I support. Thank you for giving me a chance.

We shall have the Mover to reply. We have run the two hours. Members, you will remember that this is a resolution that you made in this House on 28th March 2018; that Motions like this will have two hours and the Mover will reply in 15 minutes. So, you have run the course of two hours. I see a lot of interest but this is a resolution that the House made and we are bound to work with this resolution. Hon. Museo, the Floor is yours.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Before I reply, I wish to donate two minutes to the Woman Representative for Nyeri; two minutes to the Member of Parliament for Kilome and two minutes to Dr. Nyikal. Those are six minutes.

Hon. Museo, I need to correct you. You had 15 minutes to move but you have only five to reply. You can only deal with those five minutes. You can give them a minute each.

Dr. Nyikal, Hon. Miruka and Hon. Mabonga, one minute each.

We shall start with Dr. Nyikal.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. This is an extremely important Bill because in daily life, we need counselling because of stresses of life. In illness, we The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

need counselling so that patients can recover better as they adhere to their treatment regimes. Particularly, when we deal with people with chronic illnesses, counselling is the main support system for those being treated. Whether you are in your ordinary life, not sick; whether you have a chronic illness; whether you have mental illness, you need counselling.

I support the Motion.

The next one is Hon. Mabonga. Please, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Motion that has been brought by Mheshimiwa Rose. One thing we ought to realise is that, in most cases, we spend a lot of money on symptoms instead of dealing with the real problem. I suggest these counselling services go up to the lowest unit of Government – up to the Office of the Chief. You can see a very green tree standing, with fruits, but it has bacterial infection. Most of our people are operating that way. They are in self-denial because of the things they are going through. I suggest we set aside a fund that can assist people to access these kinds of services. Thank you mheshimiwa for giving me a minute to contribute on this very important Motion. Thanks a lot.

Hon. Museo, who was the third one? What is his name? Could you press the intervention button so that I see you? It is Hon. Alfah Ondieki, Member for Bomachoge.

Thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for this opportunity. I also want to give heko to my colleague, Hon. Rose, for this Motion. I rise to support this Motion a hundred per cent because it is very critical. Every aspect of counselling should be introduced everywhere across the country. I also propose that we have a subject in our education curriculum to make sure that even our children undergo counselling as one of the aspects in their daily lives of learning. We see various things happening in our country. Domestic violence is high at the moment; people are doing bad things. If you look at our homes, it is because of stress. We have problems. Because we lack a basic counselling support system, people are doing bad things. With those remarks, I support.

Hon. Museo, could you wind up? You have two minutes.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand to be guided. Did you say I have 10 minutes to reply?

You had five minutes. You have given out three. You now have two or one-and-a-half minutes to reply.

I thank Members for their positive and very healthy contributions. I believe the Government will look into this Motion and set up centres for Kenyans to access counselling services. I note Hon. Wamunyinyi’s concern that there was an Act for the same. My argument is that the Act that Hon. Wamunyinyi referred to talks about the professionals. It legalises their services. Hon. Njoki Ndung’u also brought a Bill like this one. It was on gender-based violence. Hon. Njoki Ndung’u’s Act was dealing with the perpetrators of violence. Mine is about prevention of violence, and why we should not get into what is happening in our families. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

As I reply, I beseech the Government to look into this issue and help us establish centres in every county so that every Kenyan can access this very important service. With those remarks, I beg to reply.

It is a wrap for Hon. Museo. I direct that we move to the next business on the Order Paper.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, aware that every birth in Kenya must be registered by the Department of Civil Registration and documented through a birth certificate; further aware that subsequent registration of citizens and acquisition of documentation such as identity cards and passports, school admissions, registration of exams, and access to opportunities such as employment depends and relies on birth certificates; deeply concerned that the Department of Civil Registration Services has over time experienced backlogs in the issuance of birth certificates as a result of among other factors, inadequate personnel, unwillingness to embrace Information Communication and Technology (ICT), inadequate funding, and inadequate materials used in registration of persons; further deeply concerned that registration services are not easily accessible to majority of Kenyans owing to the few registration centres in place, this House urges the Government to consider establishing civil registration centres in every constituency and ensure full implementation of the Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service Act, 2011. At the outset, I want to confirm that the issue of birth certificates, however simple it looks and should be, has become a nightmare in every constituency and part of this country. Recently, Dr. Matiang’i, the former Cabinet Secretary (CS) launched what is known as the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS). This system is supposed to get a unique number for every pupil who joins class one. It will be able to capture their age, academic performance, their parents’ economic status and more importantly, help the Government in allocation of resources to schools. This system will also be linked to the integrated Population Registration System (PRS) that is run by the Government. It has been a nightmare and I know many Members can relate to it. Why? It is because the civil registration centres in this country are about 139, which is not even half the number of the constituencies we have in this country. To illustrate it, I will use my region. We, as a constituency, are supposed to go to Naivasha. If you go to Naivasha today, you will find very many people in that office. One day, I walked in there at about 8.30 a.m. and found more than 500 people who had gone there from Gilgil and Naivasha – both joined to one centre. That centre had only one registration clerk, one registrar and two clerical officers that were supposed to be doing that job. The population in my constituency is estimated at about 300,000 people. The births are daily and the population is growing day by day. When you get a birth notification, you are supposed to wait for 90 days then you can get a birth certificate. This is a new requirement. Previously, birth certificates were required to register for exams. Right now, over 3,000,000 kids have not been registered. I know this is not a problem just in my constituency. Even when we tried to facilitate that office to go to Gilgil and other constituencies like a mobile clinic kind of thing, it was almost impossible because the three The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

clerical officers cannot even be able to handle the backlog of over 300,000 constituents and others that are more in Naivasha. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the pain people have suffered... If I illustrate using my constituency, if you have someone living in Elementaita Ward, which could be the farthest from Naivasha or Kongasis Ward, you spend around Kshs2,000 to reach Naivasha. When you go to Naivasha, you do not go home with that birth certificate. It is rounds, rounds and rounds. The Ministry of Education, Science and Telchnology had given a deadline that was not tenable. It was reviewed to 31st March 2018, and it was not tenable. As it stands, I think it has been extended to, I do not know when. It is because it is a nightmare; it is not possible. This department is able to make some money. I do not know what it does with that money. One pays for something, it is Kshs600 or so to get a birth certificate. But, you will still have issues of having no paper to print birth certificates, every day. Members in this House will actually relate with that situation. Everywhere there is a crisis, corruption thrives. Some counties like Wajir, only have one civil registration centre, yet it has six constituencies. The distance to be covered to get these services is almost impossible. You spend Kshs 2000 and you are not even sure you will get the birth certificate. You are then forced to go for it another day. It is becoming a nightmare. The Budget and Appropriations Committee in this House needs to relook at this department even in terms of allocation of money, so that there is enough money to get a registrar and at least two clerks in every constituency. That should not be too much to ask. You should not suffer to get your child a birth certificate. If you are not registered in this new system, you will have a problem. The teachers and principals had been given a deadline, which was impossible. Even the small amount of money you have to pay for your school feeding programme, you will spend it on the road trying to get this elusive birth certificate. This Motion is as straightforward as it comes. Every constituency has the right to have a registrar. I know most of the Members in this House have constructed CDF offices where they can house them. I had offered in my own constituency office to host the registrar who would be sent to my constituency because even if you try to ignore this problem, our constituents will come to your office. Some of us have offered to give them somewhere to sit, but the problem is the manpower. The other issue that has thrived is corruption. When you have to beg for a service to be done, it means that you talk to someone who knows someone. That is why you have heard Members complaining in this House and outside in other fora. There will be corruption with those clerks because they will tell you, “I have a backlog of 3000, can I get yours first?” That is how corruption thrives in this country. Let this department get enough funding to be able to get at least a registrar and two clerks in every constituency. That way, it will not be nightmare and we shall not punish our children just because we are running an inefficient system that is becoming problematic.

On the issue of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), I do not know why when you go to these offices, you will find tonnes of paper and you will be told one pile is awaiting something and the other one too is awaiting something else, yet we can procure systems that can make this so easy and efficient. When a kid gets a birth certificate, immediately they turn 18, they do not need to go for the records; it should be automatic for them to get an identification card and a voter’s card. It should be that fast and efficient. We have resistance to change and I do not know why some of these Government departments are not quick to take up this. I hope they can be able to automate this process. Let us go paperless and be able to do what the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is doing with the driving licences. By The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

the time you hit 18 years of age, since you had registered for your birth certificate at the right time, all these other documents such as identity card, passport and voter’s card should be able to come out at the right time. It should not be a problem once you go for driving lessons. That way we will be able to deal with issues of terrorism in this country because the data will be well kept and protected. But as it stands right now, that office is not efficient. The other issue is that of materials. I do not know why you would tell three million children to register their births and yet you do not have enough materials to print their birth certificates. Where do you want them to get the birth certificates from? So, this Motion is that straightforward and I would beg the House to support it. It will be able to sort out so many issues that people are going through right now. As floods wreak havoc in the country, some roads are impassable and people have to travel long distances to get birth certificates. Even so, they are not even assured that they will get it. With those few remarks, I want to ask Rtd. Maj. Bashir Abdullahi, the Member of Parliament for Mandera North to second this Motion. I beg to move.

Hon. Bashir, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to second this Motion. It is very critical and important because it resonates well with the service delivery at the grassroots. As Members of Parliament, we represent constituencies. Constituencies are where the bulk of Kenyans live before they transcend to the counties. It is a matter of taking services closer to the people who really need it. As it has been said, it is now mandatory for all students to be registered but the key document that is required is the birth certificate. They have to travel hundreds of kilometers to acquire it. It is only available at the county headquarters. It is traumatising for students and parents to travel for about 600 kilometers to places that they have never been to, stay there for days, spend money and sometimes they are told they would receive it the following week. It is quite inconveniencing to say the least. The birth certificate is no longer an ordinary document. It is one of the key documents required for people to register in various fields. If you do not have birth certificates, you cannot even take your kids to school from the ECD level through primary education, secondary education to university. If this function is devolved to the constituency level where parents can walk to the offices and get services, then the issue of registration of students will be easier. The other day I read a report in the newspaper saying that so far the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has been unable to register a certain number of students. They were unable to register simply because their children do not have birth certificates but the kids are in school. So, it is very important to have these kinds of services taken to the constituencies. One thing that we require is not about building structures for these officers. We only need staffing levels. One registration officer and four clerks in each of the constituencies will deliver. In Mandera North where I am a Member, we already have structures owned by the national government and the space is available. We are only asking the registrar and four clerks to do the job. It is that easy. Now, the rains are pounding. Moving through the county is a problem. How will people get these services? The numbers of children that require these certificates are increasing day by day. In my constituency and the greater North Eastern region, the birth rate is very high. We are having at least six to seven children per household. When you have this number of children per household and you cannot get them birth certificates, where do they go, yet this is a requirement. I therefore urge this House to support this Motion with keen The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

interest because it resonates with all the Members of Parliament and the public. I speak here as a Member of Parliament for Mandera North because I know the pain and anguish the parents are undergoing. Every day I get calls from my constituents who are seeking for transport and money to travel to the county headquarters to get services. This does not come without a cost. One needs to also pay for photocopying services. This is a very critical aspect and I am sure if we take these offices to the constituents, parents and children will get a big relief. I therefore second and support the Motion.

I see a lot of interest in this and the first person in my list is Hon. Tayari Stephen, the Member for Kinango.

Asante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi hii kuchangia mjadala huu kuhusu mambo ya uandikishaji wa vitambulisho na stakabadhi za kuzaliwa. Kusema ukweli, mwanzo katika eneo Bunge langu, hii ni shida sugu sana. Wananchi wanapata taabu sana kupata huduma hii ambayo ni muhimu sana katika nchi yetu. Utaona ya kwamba sanasana vile tuko na shida za barabara wananchi wanatoka kilomita nyingi ili kufika kwenye vituo ambavyo viko Kinango peke yake. Mwananchi anatumia siku nzima ili kupata huduma kama hii. Kwa hivyo, mimi naunga mkono mjadala huu kwamba ni lazima Serikali ijaribu kuangalia ya kwamba hii huduma inasambazwa katika vituo vidogo vidogo, sana sana kwa ofisi za machifu. Pia vifaa vitolewe kwa wingi ili wananchi waweze kupata huduma hii. Hivi sasa tunatumia pesa yetu kutoa pesa ya mafuta kupatia wale wafanyikazi ili waende wakaandikishe wananchi. Pia tunavyojua hivi sasa kama hana cheti cha kuzaliwa mwanafunzi haandikishwi katika shule yoyote. Na wanafunzi wengi sana hawana hivi vyeti. Ikiwa ni lazima wasafiri kutoka maeneo mbalimbali kuenda kupata hii huduma, ni njia ambayo itatatiza sana wananchi. Kwa hivyo mjadala huu utatusaidia sana. Ningependa kuomba utiliwe mkazo sana kwa sababu tuko katika hali ambayo tumengojea kwa siku nyingi sana. Wananchi wasipate taabu kufuata huduma hii. Pia tunaona ya kwamba teknolojia ambayo imefika sio lazima mwananchi atembee mbali. Ni kitu kidogo sana ambacho kinaweza kufanywa kutumia teknolojia ili wananchi wapate huduma hii. Kwa hivyo nashukuru sana kwa muda huu na ninaunga mkono mjadala huu. Asante sana.

Hon. Jaldesa Dida, Member for Isiolo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I want to take this opportunity to thank my sister, Hon. Wangari, for bringing this Motion. It is like she has been speaking to the people of Isiolo County because over the weekend when I had gone there, this is one of the issues that were raised by the residents. This is a very important Motion to the citizens of this country in that we have been having a serious challenge since this requirement of registration of children in schools was introduced. As you are aware, we have a lot of infrastructural challenges in most parts of this country. I will give the example of Isiolo County where we have only one registrar who is based at the county headquarters with a few staff of about two clerks to register the entire county. The farthest end of Isiolo County is 700 kilometres from the headquarters, and on a rough road. It The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

requires a journey of one-and-a-half days to get to the county headquarters to get registration services. The birth certificates cost Kshs150 but the cost of coming from 700 kilometres is about Kshs4,000. Therefore, it is a burden to already burdened citizens of my county. Again, when one registrar is required to be in charge of a vast area like North Horr in Marsabit County, which requires a journey of seven days to complete, you can imagine the challenge parents are going through. Another challenge that we have is with regard to ICT. Most rural areas do not have the infrastructure. Half of Isiolo South Constituency is not even connected to Safaricom. Therefore, it is a challenge to even access communication. Forget about the internet. Therefore, it is a real challenge. Another burden is the issue of infrastructure, not only roads but even the computers at the head office of Isiolo County are only two. Even when these forms are filled, processing them takes a long time. Therefore, I support that we establish other registration centres in each constituency. I beg to support. Thank you.

Hon. Omboko Milemba, Member for Emuhaya.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Martha Wangari for this because it is extremely crucial. It touches every home and every family. It affects schooling. It affects the agricultural sector in the country because currently parents wake up in the morning to look for birth certificates and go back home and still go back the following day. Originally, birth certificates were reserved for the elite in Kenya. Not everybody had a birth certificate. But a birth certificate has become the main tool to facilitate employment opportunities and even entry into schools. Therefore, it has dawned on the Kenyan population, and particularly the people of Emuhaya, that everybody must have a birth certificate. In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the Government and it is actually the Government requiring a birth certificate for every person born. Therefore, it should be the responsibility of the Government not only to make sure that birth certificates are provided very easily but also they are provided free. So the charge of Kshs150 to Kshs300 which is being charged for a birth certificate should be removed. Number two, we should have the registrars located in every place where they can be easily accessible to the people. I propose further that let the registration of people be pushed to the chiefs because they know the people and children born within their areas and they can affirm that this is a child who was born here. Alternatively, moving further, we should bring in technology so that birth certificates can be accessed in an easy way just like we do with logbooks and every other thing that is found on e-citizen platform, so that from your own home or a cyber café you can feed in data and get the birth certificate which will enable you to access all these opportunities. In Emuhaya, and even Luanda where you come from, people are always on the road going to Mbale to get birth certificates. What are these birth certificates? This House must now help the people of Kenya and the poor citizens to get birth certificates without any further hindrances like it is today. I beg to support, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Thank you.

Hon. Rindikiri, Member for Buuri.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. My constituency, Buuri, has two sub-counties with deputy county commissioners (DDCs). From one end of the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

constituency to the other it is approximately 180 kilometres. We border Isiolo, so I understand what Mhe. Rehema is going through. It is the right of every child born in Kenya to have a birth certificate. Therefore, the Government should not make it difficult for our children to get birth certificates. I commend the Government for starting the Huduma Centers but, unfortunately, one of the services that were omitted at the Huduma Centers, which cover almost 35 counties, is the issuance of birth certificates. Why is the Government not sensitive to the needs of our children? It is ironical that the Government does not take care of that poor parent who is forced to walk long distances and also spend a lot of money in order to obtain a birth certificate. This document is a right to every child and the Government should issue it immediately or within six months. How many parents can afford the hustle of obtaining a birth certificate considering their circumstances? Hon. Wangari has made a very passionate appeal for registration at the constituency level. We need this service at the grassroots. It is true that there are issues that have to do with the risk of registering foreigners but, honestly, it is not every part of this country which has that danger. Despite that, it is upon the Government to know its people. I doubt whether the Government of Kenya knows its people well enough. So, it is crucial that we have registration in every constituency. This will make it easier for the parent and the child. I am looking at that orphan left to the care of the grandmother and poor villagers. Instead of the Government making it easier for that child, it is making it difficult. As I said, my constituency is highly cosmopolitan and yet a parent is told to go to Kisumu because that is where he or she comes from. People are being told to go back to where they came from so that they can register for a birth certificate. What country are we living in?

It is, therefore, important that we have the registration at the constituency level. I would like to ask Hon. Wangari to consider those constituencies with more than one district such as mine to be given two registration centers because we need the services down there. I support this noble Motion. Thank you.

Very well, we shall have Hon. Millie Odhiambo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I thank Hon. Martha Wangari for bringing this Motion. She is a woman I admire. She reminds me of Winnie Mandela because of the fire within her belly. I congratulate her because recently some people were challenging her on some matters which are personal. I have not told her, but I congratulate her because she gave them a very appropriate response. When you are elected by your people you are elected to come here and legislate and to move Motions such as this one. How you do it in your personal life is none of their business. On that note I just want to say one of the reasons I admire her is that she reminds me of Winnie Mandela. I have not had an opportunity to send my condolences as well to the people of South Africa and the world for the demise of Winnie Mandela who is a woman that I admired tremendously. Her life epitomises the life of most women leaders, that you do excellent work like my sister Martha Wangari but people will always try to bring you down with things that do not matter. It is unfortunate because I was hoping that we could move an Adjournment Motion to discuss her life but, unfortunately, we have also lost Hon. Kenneth Matiba, a great freedom fighter for this country. I send my condolences to the family. His death has come at a difficult The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

time. The women Members of Parliament had wanted us to put aside a day just to discuss Winnie Mandela. Coming back to the Motion at hand, having worked at the Cradle for many years, one of the challenges that we faced, especially for undocumented children is the issue of birth registration. Many of us do not understand how when you do not have birth registration it affects every other possibility for you as a person. You find that most people will not access schools. This is a problem that we faced especially with Nyumbani Children Center that hosts a lot of children suffering from HIV /AIDS and many who are abandoned by their parents. Because of the way we have put up our registration systems, most of them did not access registration documents. Without that birth registration document, one cannot access schools or any other social services that this country grants. That aside, for people who come from border constituencies such as mine - I border Uganda and Tanzania - the Government has made it very difficult to get either birth registration or other forms of identification for our constituents. One of the things that we must do is not only devolve this system but also to make it easier. I thank one Hon. Member who was speaking about giving these services to the chiefs. The chiefs know people by name in their own villages. They know who the-son-of-who is, who has given birth to a child with two or four fingers and so on. They know of all those specific details within the village. So, if you can devolve this activity to that level, even as a country, it would help us a great deal. In fact, instead of putting a lot of money on census, we could give the chiefs the authority to register births and deaths. That way, we would not use a lot of money during census. This is because, at any given time, the chief should be able to tell who has been born and who has died in the village. Sometimes we need to find very noble and easy ways of doing things instead of making our lives a lot harder. We could use the money that goes into conducting census on other more profitable ventures. With those few remarks let me congratulate my sister Martha and support this Motion. Thank you.

Very well. Hon. Mbogo Ali Menza, Member for Kisauni.

Thank you, Hon.Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to comment on this important Motion that has been brought here by Hon. Martha Wangari. Hon. Martha Wangari is a woman. You will bear me witness that if you visit any registration center today, you will find women there with their children to have them registered. So, from that angle, she has brought this Motion as a mother and woman. She is very caring for her to think about the challenges our women and mothers face at the constituency level. Registration of persons is a matter of national security. Today, we know that civil registration has not been devolved to the counties. It is still a matter that is with the national Government. With that in mind, this is a matter that we as Members of Parliament can take forward through our National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) and put up centres in our own constituencies. However, for this matter to be taken seriously, I wish Hon. Martha Wangari can reconsider… I know she has brought a Motion but she needs to go back and check if there is a Bill or Act that touches on the issue of civil registration. Then, we can amend it to include this and make it mandatory for civil registration centres to be devolved to the constituency level.

As MPs we have two key functions we are allowed to do with the NG-CDF kitty, they are education and security. Therefore, this matter will automatically fall under security and we can allocate some funds and put up these centres at the constituency level. Registration of persons, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

which we are talking about, is one of the most vital documents in this country today. Last year, students were not being registered to sit for the national examinations if they did not have a birth certificate. You can image the trauma and pain parents went through to acquire this document so that their children could be registered in good time to sit for the national examinations.

This opened a corruption window because if you wanted to expedite your document in good time there were many cartels and brokers who come in between saying they can get the document for you within the shortest time possible. Many parents were desperate and they went through that process to acquire this vital document. Today, for you to acquire an ID or be issued with a passport you must have a birth certificate. For you to be issued with a death certificate, you must produce a birth certificate to demonstrate that you acquired an ID.

You can imagine the importance of this document, in this country. It has gone to another level. Late last year, a new directive was issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology that students and pupils, whether in class one, sitting for the national examinations or high school, must have a birth certificate for them to be registered as students. You can imagine, we have over three million students who have not been registered and yet they are required to do so. We appreciate the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government through the Principal Secretary for Immigration because we now have mobile registration centres but they are not evenly distributed as we expect. It is high time we moved away from mobile registration centres and had civil registration centres at the constituency level and we can have chiefs or assistant chiefs…

Hon. Mbogo, I know you have a lot to say on this but you only had five minutes and you have used them up. I will give this opportunity to Hon. Mwangaza, County Women Representative for Meru County.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion by Hon. Martha Wangari. I respect her and as Women Representatives our people have been coming to our offices because of birth certificate problems.

I come from a county with a population of over 1.7 million. We have nine constituencies, 45 wards and only two civil registration centres. It has been a very difficult time for my people in Meru because they travel over 250 kilometers paying a fare of over Kshs.1,000 to reach the registration centres and register for birth certificates. I support this Motion and in every constituency or ward we should have civil registration centres because this is a big problem. We need to achieve the Big Four Agenda, among them food and security. Many women go to register for birth certificates and they spend more than three days at the registration centers and this means they do nothing at home. Women in Meru are the bread winners, they source for food, fetch water and take care of the whole family and they are suffering a lot searching for birth certificates.

It is high time the Government set up centers and if it finds this difficult then in wards, bishops like me can be empowered to do civil registration. If religious leaders are empowered they can do civil registration comfortably and this will help us secure food for our country. In Meru County the reproductive age is between ages 14 to 49, everyone has a child and needs to go to the registration centres. This means they waste a lot of time there in very long queues. I support this Motion by Martha Wangari that in very constituency or even ward we should have civil registration centres. If this is impossible for the Government then, they should empower religious leaders, pastors, bishops and Muslim leaders to do the same for our country so that we can move forward. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Very well. Hon. Bady Twalib, Member for Jomvu.

Asante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipatia fursa hii ili nichangie Hoja hii. Kwanza, naunga mkono Mhe. Martha Wangari kwa kuleta Hoja hii muhimu sana kwa maisha ya wananchi wa Kenya. Ametoa mfano mzuri wa mahali kama Gilgil ambako watu wanasongamana sana huko Naivasha. Amesema kwamba alipofika hapo aliona watu takribani mia tano ambao walikuwa wameketi kwenye ofisi za usajiri.

Naunga mkono Hoja hii kwa sababu itawawezesha watu wengi hasa akina mama kusajili watoto wao ndiyo waingie shuleni. Siku hizi ni sheria kwamba kila mtoto ama mwanafunzi lazima asajiriwe na stakabathi ya kuzaliwai ili aweze kuingia shuleni. Vile vile, natoa pendekezo kwa Serikali kwamba wakati hawa watoto wote wanaingia shuleni wanakuwa na stakabathi za kuzaliwa ambazo zinaonyesha wao ni Wakenya. Moja kwa moja wakimaliza shule wapewe vitambulisho vyao haraka iwezekanavyo ili wakitoka shuleni hakuna haja tena kuzunguka ofisi mbalimbali ili kupewa stakabathi hii muhimu.

Tumeona watu wakienda sehemu mbalimbali kutafuta stakabathi hii na maofisa wa Serikali wakati mwingine wanachukua advantage yao kwa sababu wana hamu ya kupata stakabathi hizi. Kwa hivyo, wanafanya ufisadi na hii si haki. Lakini hii huduma ikienda katika Nyanja, kwa mfano kutoka kwenye eneo bunge mpaka wadi, litakuwa jambo la maana sana. Huduma hii itakuwa imerushwa nyanjani na watu wetu watasaidika kwa haraka. Tunaona kuwa wengi hawawezi kutafuta kazi ikiwa hawana vitambulisho. Wengi katika kutafuta stakabadhi za kuonyesha umiliki hawawezi kumiliki mali zao bila kupata vitambulisho kama Wakenya. Kuwezesha na kuona kuwa huduma hii inapatikana kwa njia nyepesi kutarahisisha na kuona kuwa wananchi wetu wanapata huduma hii haraka iwezekanavyo. Jambo ambalo ningependa kusisitiza ni kuwa watoto ambao wanasoma katika shule zetu ni Wakenya. Kuwalazimisha watoto wale kuonyesha na kwenda na stakabadhi za kuzaliwa shuleni kunarahisisha kazi ya kuwapa vitambulisho kwa haraka iwezekanavyo ili kujitafutia hali yao ya maisha na vilevile kujisaidia katika kumiliki mambo mengi katika nchi hii ya Kenya. Tumeona katika sehemu mbalimbali kumekuwa na matatizo makubwa sana kwa sababu ya miundo msingi ambayo iko. Watu wanatembea mwendo mrefu ili kupata huduma hii. Ni muhimu kwa Serikali pia kuzingatia miundo msingi katika sehemu ambazo watu wanaenda kupata huduma kama hii. Nachukua fursa hii nami kumuunga mkono Mhe. Martha kwa Hoja aliyoileta na vilevile kukushukuru kwa kunipatia fursa hii kuchangia. Asante sana.

we shall have Hon. Tepo Koropu, Member for Isiolo South.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Martha Wangari for the Motion. I come from the pastoralist community, that is, in Isiolo District. The first time I saw a birth certificate was when I was reporting to university. I had gone to the registrar of births asking for the same and he asked why I needed a birth certificate and I told him it was needed at the University of Nairobi where I was going to register. We need to appreciate the fact that mostly in the pastoral areas, the pastoralist communities do not know and do not see the need for birth certificates. They actually do not know that a document referred to as a birth certificate exists. Most of our students ask for birth certificates when it is demanded by institutions in this country. The reason why they do not know is because Isiolo District The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

headquarters is about 283 kilometres from Sericho. Hawaye is about 290 kilometres. That is the furthest point in my constituency. It will be a huge task for one to travel over rough roads where there are no public vehicles to go to district headquarters to ask for birth certificates. You will need a minimum of seven days to seek the same. You can appreciate the cost one will incur in travelling and staying at the county headquarters just to get one birth certificate. So, to avoid that, people do not register births. It is high time that the Government, through this request by our able lady, sees the need to establish centres at each constituency headquarters. Further to this, we actually urge the Government to not only put offices in each constituency but actually even have mobile stations in pastoralist areas because herders will move where there is pasture. Where there is pasture there is no office. So, it is necessary that we have mobile stations because during elections we have mobile stations. Why do we not have mobile birth registration centres where people can be registered? My suggestion is we should be willing and ready to use our NG-CDF funds, if it is possible for these centres to be registered so that our children can get birth certificates and then they can secure identification cards and other necessary documents. With these few remarks, I beg to support.

Hon. Mboni Mwalika, Member for Kitui Rural.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I thank Hon. Martha Wangari for bringing up this Motion. As we stand now, this is an issue which is actually long overdue. Currently, to get these certificates has become very expensive because people have to travel long distances so that they can get them. Secondly, because of the shortages of P1 forms, corruption has come in. To get that form, our people have to bribe the people who have them. So, it is very important to bring these centres where people are. The motto of this country and the Government is to bring service near to them. I will propose that we should not establish only one centre. Some constituencies are very big. We may have to propose that we establish more than one centre in each constituency so that we can cater for everybody. Also these centres should be manned by trained people and we also provide them with computing equipment and of course the materials. I also propose that the children should also be issued with birth certificates in the hospitals. Before they leave the hospital after being born, they should be given the certificates. I used to work with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and one big challenge in civil registration is budget allocation. I had an opportunity to manage a World Bank funded project and I actually was funding them. I realised that they did not even have computing people. When we talk about these centres and efficient systems, then we need to give them enough finances so that they can issue these certificates. In this country, we are in the process of creating what we call a comprehensive and integrated population register. That is where civil registration comes in. We need to know when somebody was born and when he leaves this country. We need to know all the activities this person has done. One of the instruments which can help us is civil registration in terms of registering people and getting information from the person that you will see this is so and so. We can trace that person to the time he leaves this country. It is also going to help us in terms of population, especially on what we call head count. Population and housing census creates more information apart from counting. Though the head count, we will know how many people have been born and how many people have left. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I stand to support this Motion. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Shinali, Member for Ikolomani.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First, I would like to welcome you back from Australia, where you had attended the Commonwealth Games. Welcome back. I know Hon. Martha Wangari because we work together. At the party level, she was our treasurer in the United Democratic Forum Party (UDF). That is how I found myself in the Jubilee Party. I take this opportunity to congratulate her for tabling this Motion. I was also preparing a Motion. She just overtook me. It is an idea that I support. It amazes me which country we live in where when leaders are hunting for votes, they make acquisition of identity cards free. Those are for adult people. The birth certificates that we are currently discussing are for our children. Those are people who do not work and who are Kenyans. A birth certificate is the first document that one requires as a citizen of Kenya. Those children are born in sub- locations. A woman is pregnant for nine months. An assistant chief already knows that such a woman is pregnant. They go to hospitals to give birth. Even if we are missing any detail, we know the mother of the child.

Hon. Shinali, how does the assistant chief know that the woman is pregnant?

Pregnancy is not something you can hide, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, because we can see it. Some of us who have families can see. That is not the point. The point is the duration that a woman is pregnant is long enough. The fact that she has to visit hospital several times means we have the details. We should not take children who were born through a tedious exercise to get this document. We want those documents. I request that those documents be issued at the hospitals where the children are born and even at primary schools where headteachers and teachers, who come from the locality, can get the details of the parents and the children and forward the same for issuance of birth certificates. This exercise should have been done gradually. It has now created a backlog and there are cartels that have come up. Right now, the cost of a birth certificate is between Kshs1000 and Kshs2000. The distance one has to travel to get the birth certificates, and the many times that our parents visit those centres to get the birth certificates, are painful. We need to ease the way birth certificates are issued so that our people can live an easy life and access those documents in an easy way rather than having to spend the little they have and the time that they should be working to look for this particular document. As we move on, I request Hon. Martha Wangari to move further and propose amendments so that the suggestions we are currently discussing are put in the necessary legislations so that they become law. As I conclude, I also support...

Hon. Shinali, your five minutes have run out. Your point has been made. I hope Hon. Wangari is taking notes as she goes along so that she moves this to the next level. From your contributions, the contributions of Hon. Menza, the Member for Kisauni; and generally, from the contributions of all the Members who have spoken, it is clear that this needs to be done. Moving on, I would like to give this opportunity to Hon. Rozaah Akinyi, County Women’s Representative of Kisumu.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

When Hon. Martha speaks to this Motion, she is actually speaking to every part of this country. Most of Kenya is rural and has challenges with its infrastructure. As a result, travel or transport costs are high. We know from documented records that more than 50 per cent of people in this country live below the poverty line. In other words, most of those people cannot afford to put a meal on their tables, and we expect them to spend money to travel far and wide in search of birth certificates. It is mandatory for every school-going child to have a birth certificate. Most of the challenges of poor or economically challenged families is money. The charges that they have to pay for the birth certificates are exorbitant and they are not able to afford it if they cannot even afford to eat. I want to talk to the spirit of devolution. Devolution is supposed to bring services closer to the people yet our people have to travel far and wide to look for certificates that are mandatory to their lives. Other than just taking this sentence to the constituency level, I support and request that the Government must devolve those centres right down to the ward level so that most of our people can access or have easy access to those centres. That is the only time devolution will become a reality. Otherwise, if people still have to travel far and wide and spend a lot of money for a certificate that is now mandatory to their lives, it does not matter how much money we have spent on devolution, it will remain a myth to most of us. With those few remarks, I support and congratulate Hon. Martha for coming up with a Motion that affects each and every family in this country.

Let us have Hon. Mizighi Mnene, Member for Taita.

Asante sana, Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipa fursa hii hata mimi nichangie Hoja hii ambayo ni ya muhimu sana kwetu sisi, haswa akina mama. Zoezi hili la kutafuta vyeti vya kuzaliwa vinatuhusu sana. Nachukua fursa hii kumpongeza Mhe. Martha kwa kuifikiria Hoja hii na kuileta hapa Bungeni ili tuweze kuijadili. Ni kweli, mambo ya kutafuta vyeti vya kuzaliwa vimekuwa kero kwa wananchi wote wa Kenya. Ni shida sana. Wananchi wanasafiri mbali, wanaenda wakirudishwa, wanatumia pesa nyingi na kila wakifika pale, wanaambiwa warudi siku inayofuatia. Hivi majuzi, kule kwetu Taita Taveta, hata yale makaratasi ya kuchapisha vyeti hivyo hayakuwepo. Kwa hivyo, ilikuwa ni usumbufu mtupu wa kungoja. Pia, watoto wakienda shuleni wanaambiwa ni lazima wapeleke vyeti hivyo. Imekuwa ni kero sana manake vyeti ni muhimu. Huwezi kupata pasi ya kusafiri mpaka uwe na cheti cha kuzaliwa. Kwa hivyo, naunga mkono kwamba Hoja hii ni muhimu na tunaomba vyeti hivi viweze kupatikana kwa urahisi. Tunaomba huduma hii ya kutoa vyeti vya kuzaliwa iweze kuboreshwa na iwe rahisi kwa wananchi kuvipata vyeti hivi. Kama vinaweza kuletwa kwa ward level itakuwa vizuri zaidi. Nazidi kumpongeza dadangu Martha kwa kuileta Hoja hii Bungeni ili tuweze kuwasaidia wananchi kule mashinani.

Let us have Hon. Chris Aseka, Member for Khwisero.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. At the outset, let me congratulate Hon. Martha Wangari for bringing such a noble Motion that affects every Kenyan.

This country is data hungry. Without proper and accurate data which can only be got through civil registration, we cannot have accurate policies. It is bad for this House because the policies we make are not supported by accurate data. This House budgets for this nation and approves the Budget which is based on information that is not supported. We cannot have a The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Budget for the nation that is for development without knowing the number of people we have, the number of the young people and how many have died.

Data is important in ensuring transparency in the distribution of national resources. We have a problem in this country because some areas are enormous and have been allocated more resources based on data that is not substantiated. We have areas in this country where it is very difficult to get a birth certificate but it is very easy to get it in other areas. I represent people in Khwisero Constituency. Twenty years down the line since Khwisero was made district headquarters, we have never had an officer in charge of civil registration posted there. The challenge may not be district or constituency levels but it is the number of employees who are there in the Department of Civil Registration. It is a simple thing. The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and the Department of Civil Registration should employ Kenyans and post them as civil registrars in every constituency. More so, we can even devolve this to our respective wards. As a leader, it pains me at times. I know you also represent a constituency. People travel for many kilometres to look for a birth certificate which is a vital document. My people in Khwisero travel to Butere District to get it. People from Matungu go to Butere District to get it. Thirty three or 34 districts converge in one district to look for a vital document. The Department of Civil Registration should employ people, post them to these district headquarters and facilitate the acquisition of this document.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support this Motion. As a House, we should follow it up to ensure that it is implemented. It should not just form the basis of archives in Government departments. We should follow it up to ensure that whatever we decide as a House on this Motion is implemented. I thank you.

Hon. Mishi Mboko, you are on top of our list but I would like to give this opportunity to the Member for Mombasa.

Asante sana, Mhe. Naibu wa Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipa fursa hii. Kwanza, nampongeza Mhe. Martha Wangari kwa Hoja hii. Hili limekuwa kama janga Mombasa na Kenya nzima.

Kwa sababu ya umaskini, kuna wazazi wengine hawana pesa ya kulipa stakabadhi ya kuzaliwa kwa watoto wao. Wanapozaa ndani ya nyumba, hawaendi kuandikisha watoto wao. Kuna wazazi wengine ambao wanapeleka watoto kliniki. Baada ya muda wa miezi tisa ama mwaka mzima wanamaliza kliniki, kulingana na yale makaazi nyumbani, wale wazazi wanapoteza zile kadi za kliniki. Unapokwenda kujiandikisha, ni lazima uwe na stakabadhi ya kuzaliwa kwa mtoto na kadi ya hospitali ya chanjo. Kuna ndoa za mapema: Utakuta mtoto anazaa mtoto. Wakati wakuchukuwa hii stakabadhi, inagundulika kwamba mama hana kitambulisho ambacho kinahitajika ili kusajili mtoto aliyezaliwa. Kunao wajane na wale single mothers ambao huambiwa wapeane kitambulisho cha baba ya mtoto. Wanalazimika kwenda kwa wakili ili waape. Hayo yote yanawagharimu senti.

TungependaWakenya wapate stakabadhi hizi kwa urahisi katika vituo vya usajili. Hapo awali wakati nikienda shule mwaka wa1983 nilishika sikio nikaingizwa darasani. Kwa hivyo Serikali yetu ichukulie maanani suala hili ili vyeti hivi vipeanwe kwa urahisi ili wazazi wasitaabike. Nakumbuka wakati nilipomaliza kidato cha nne nilipatiwa kitambulisho changu cha kitaifa shuleni huko Giriamani, Kadzonzo Girls. Wasajili walikuja shuleni wakasema wale ambao wamefikisha miaka 18 wajiandikishe. Tulipatiwa vitambulisho vya kitaifa katika shule na tunazitumia hadi leo. Sioni ni kwanini iwe vigumu wazazi kupata huduma hii. Ombi la Mheshimiwa litiliwe maanani ili wapate stakabadhi hizo. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Naunga mkono Hoja hii. Nina imani kwamba Serikali itatilia maanani jambo hili kwasababu kabla hatujaingia katika mfumo wa sasa wakidigitali, huduma hizi zote zilikuwa zinapatikana.

Ahsante sana.

Hon. Murgor, Member for Keiyo North.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to put my voice on the Motion on establishment of civil registration centres in every constituency. From the start, I support this Motion. I thank Hon. Wangari for moving it.

A birth certificate is a very important document. Without it, children cannot be registered in schools, you will not be able to get an ID card and you will not get a passport and even employment. So, a birth certificate is an essential document. The Ministry of Education, Research and Technology insisted that school children needed to provide them with birth certificates. My constituency happens to be the headquarters of the county; therefore, we have a registration centre. However, my neighbouring constituency, Keiyo South, does not have one. People are forced to travel 150 kilometres to get to the centre to get the certificate. I have seen women spending almost three days travelling. I wondered where they were sleeping.

I support this Motion that every constituency should have a registration centre. It will even be better to have mobile registration centres which should go round, particularly on market days, in order to register as many citizens as possible. Finally, as you realise, not all children are born in hospital. Therefore, the assistant chiefs should be given the responsibility to register those born at home. That makes things easier. With those few words, I support this Motion.

Hon. Members, this Motion still has 45 minutes but we have run out of time for now. Therefore, the time being 1.00 p.m., this House stands adjourned until today afternoon at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 1.00 p.m.

The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.