All government employees’ performance appraisal will include their contribution to mental health safety in their workspaces, a top government official has said.
Dr Frank Njenga who is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s adviser on mental health on Thursday said the government will put mental health at the center of assessing its employees at every level.
Their attitude towards mental health and their contributions and actions towards safety in that respect will be assessed.
“Your assessment for promotion and contract renewal will be based on actions and contributions in the areas of mental health,” Njenga said.
He was speaking during a women mental health webinar hosted by Ida Odinga Trust and Chiromo hospitals group to mark mental health awareness month.
Njenga said the government was committed to eradicating the stigma associated with mental health conditions.
Among the approaches include making a considerable investment in the mental health service infrastructures and creating awareness in the workplaces and public spaces to normalise talking about and seeking help for mental health problems.
Ida Odinga, Millicent Onyonyi who is the managing director of OLA energy group, Sports CS Amina Mohammed, Safaricom Chief Customer Officer Sylvia Mulinge and Catherine Syengo Mutisya, a consultant psychiatrist were among the panelists alongside Njenga.
Ida said women bear the brunt of mental health due to the many responsibilities they juggle in society and should be accorded foremost focus on mental health support.
“Even in the political front, women have not been afforded enough support system to succeed,” Ida said.
She added that women have to contend with tough standards compared to men while competing for the same political goals.
She said special support should be tailored for women in the corporate world.
“Wherever they come from, they could be dealing with a sick person, attending to a sick child or keeping up with their marriage issues but still coming to work.”
Ida urged women to spare time for themselves where they don’t focus on other duties so as to cope up with the many pressures in their lives.
They should plan to hang out with friends, share their stressful experiences with others and stop carrying their office work home, she advised.
“While writing your diary, leave some time unplanned just for yourself. Also, tag along friends to Arboretum just to count birds and laugh,” she said.
Mulinge said Safaricom has developed a policy to have its employees take rest leaves uninterrupted, during which they do not check anything to do with work to ensure they ease out the pressure of their tasks.
CS Amina said enough investment should be put towards mentoring young girls to speak up about their mental health issues. She said she tried the trick while serving as Education CS and it worked.
Edited by P.O