{"id":41723,"date":"2025-08-02T11:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T11:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/41723\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T11:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T11:41:10","slug":"trans-nzoia-staff-trained-to-tackle-rising-mental-health-issues-drug-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/41723\/","title":{"rendered":"Trans Nzoia staff trained to tackle rising mental health issues, drug abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trans Nzoia county director for human resources Emelda Agoi during the launch of a five-day mental health awareness training programme at the county Hall in Kitale\u00a0on July 30, 2025<\/p>\n

Trans
\nNzoia is trying to help the increasing number of stressed county staff with
\nmental health challenges causing alcohol and drug abuse and undermining
\nperformance.<\/p>\n

The
\ncounty employs more than 3,500 workers, and the wellness initiative comes at a
\ntime of heightened concern for employee welfare and workplace productivity.<\/p>\n

Governor
\nGeorge Natembeya\u2019s administration has launched a five-day day mental health
\nawareness training programme to tackle psychological issues confronting county
\nstaff.<\/p>\n

The
\nawareness campaign, which began on Wednesday at the County Town Hall, brings
\ntogether public servants across departments.<\/p>\n

The
\ngoal is to equip employees with skills to manage stress, recognise mental
\nhealth issues and foster peer support in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Assistant
\ncounty secretary Gideon Sawe described the mental disturbance trend among staff
\nas deeply troubling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis
\ntraining marks a new beginning for the county to confront these challenges
\nhead-on and in a way that inspires lasting change,\u201d he said during the
\nprogramme\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

County
\nofficials report an increase in mental distress among workers, including
\nsubstance abuse, prompting urgent implementation of the wellness initiative
\nunder the Public Service Management directorate.<\/p>\n

Emeldah
\nAgoi, county director of Human Resources, emphasised the need to treat mental
\nhealth with the same importance as physical health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe
\nneed to be mentally healthy to perform effectively,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThis programme is part of a broader strategy
\nto ensure staff are well\u2014physically, mentally and financially.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agoi
\nurged participants to become mental health ambassadors within their
\ndepartments. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen
\nyou open up, you begin to heal,\u201d she said, also highlighting value of
\nself-driven recovery and peer-to-peer support.<\/p>\n

Officers
\nfrom the human resource management department, who oversee the counselling
\nunit, clarified that the initiative is non-medical and is designed to empower
\nindividuals to better handle personal challenges.<\/p>\n

The
\ntraining addresses workplace issues such as financial strain, organisational change,
\ninterpersonal conflicts and high-pressure deadlines.<\/p>\n

The
\nprogramme also identified warning signs\u2014including insomnia, absenteeism, poor
\nproductivity, and substance use\u2014that call for early intervention.<\/p>\n

Director
\nof Administration Wycliffe Pakachin underscored the need to institutionalise
\nstaff welfare programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s
\nnot the load that breaks our backs, but how we carry it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pakachin
\nencouraged staff to consider professional counselling training and advocated
\nfor mental health education to be embedded into career development.<\/p>\n

As
\nthe county prepares for the second phase of its performance management rollout,
\nsenior officials emphasised that mental wellness is key to boosting morale and
\nenhancing service delivery.<\/p>\n

Instant
\nanalysis<\/p>\n

Trans
\nNzoia is taking a proactive approach to increasing mental health issues among
\nits 3,500 staff, highlighting a critical shift toward holistic employee
\nwelfare. A five-day training programme addresses stress, alcohol and drug
\nabuse, as well as workplace pressures, emphasising that mental health is as
\nimportant as physical well-being. By empowering staff with stress management
\ntools and promoting peer support, the initiative aims to improve morale and
\nproductivity. Challenges such as financial hardship and organisational change
\nare openly tackled.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n


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\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trans Nzoia county director for human resources Emelda Agoi during the launch of a five-day mental health awareness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,29746,394,29745,29747,28740,28741,28739,29744,406,5098],"class_list":["post-41723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-wellness","tag-mentalhealth","tag-peer-support","tag-star-news","tag-star-news-kenya","tag-the-star","tag-the-star-newspaper","tag-trans-nzoia","tag-wellness","tag-workplace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}