County to establish counselling centers to address rising mental health cases Kiambu County plans to establish counselling and rehabilitation centers in its sub counties in efforts to address the rising mental health cases in the County. Deputy Governor Joyce Ngugi said the centers will have counselors to guide and help those suffering from mental illnesses. Speaking when she met mental health experts in the county in Thika town, the Deputy Governor said they will work closely with the experts to provide counselling services in the centers as well visit learning institutions in the area to advise on mental health.
She said the county numbers are worrying and have led to a surge in suicide, murders arising from relationships, drug abuse and violence incidents among other vices. Statistics from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) ranked Kiambu County the first in the number of people who committed suicide between March and June this year at 109 cases against 483 nationally. Recently, a tycoon from the county’s Kirigiti area is said to have shot his wife dead before turning the gun on himself.
Early this year, a university student from the County confessed to killing his five family members. A number of students from the local universities have also been murdered in cold blood by their lovers. Susan Gitau, an adult psychologist in Thika called on the government to educate teachers about mental health as well as ensure that schools have mental health practitioners who can help students deal with mental illness. She also called upon the government not to issue firearms to individuals who have mental health issues in order to curb the rising cases of gender-based violence and murders.
Former Juja MP Ferdinand Waititu alias Wakapee’s widow who lost in the recent Juja parliamentary elections Susan Waititu emphasized on the need for people to visit counselling centers saying the stress brought about by the effects of Covid-19 pandemic was hurting many. “Counseling helped me a lot during the illness and mourning period of my husband,” she said. Her husband suffered from brain cancer before she finally succumbed in February this year Susan Waititu says it is high time Kenyans embraced counselling whenever experiencing unusual situation like diseases or death.