Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi has hailed Kenya’s progress in the fight against jigger infestation, describing it as one of the country’s most successful grassroots public health campaigns.
Speaking in Murang’a County during the unveiling of the Ahadi Kenya Trust Jigger Archive and Community Resource Centre, Mudavadi said the country had made significant strides in reducing a menace that once affected more than three million people, mainly children and elderly people in poor rural households.
He said the archive would preserve the painful memories, lessons and achievements from the decades-long fight against jiggers, ensuring future generations understand the dangers of poverty-related diseases and the importance of hygiene and sanitation.
“We are here to archive the painful chapter of the long fight against jigger infestation. In the worst affected areas, children frequently missed school, families lived in pain and shame, communities suffered in silence and victims were isolated and stigmatized,” Mudavadi said.
According to the Prime Cabinet Secretary, some victims lost mobility while others died from severe infestations, as many families struggled in silence due to stigma and poverty.
Mudavadi praised Ahadi Kenya Trust and its partners for leading community-based interventions that transformed thousands of lives across the country.
The anti-jigger campaign began in Murang’a in 2007 before expanding to counties in Central, Coast, Eastern, Rift Valley and Western Kenya.
He said the collaboration between the government, health workers, volunteers, county governments and local communities had created a powerful public health movement focused on sanitation, preventive healthcare and dignity restoration.
Mudavadi noted that hygiene campaigns and treatment programmes had enabled thousands of children to return to school while restoring dignity and hope to affected families.
“The Ahadi Kenya Trust partnership with the government and other stakeholders has created one of the most impactful grassroots public health movements. Families have regained hope, communities have rebuilt their confidence and citizens have reclaimed their dignity and humanity,” he said.
The government, he added, had strengthened the anti-jigger campaign through policy support and public awareness initiatives, including the annual National Jigger Awareness Day marked every March 3.
He also cited the Ministry of Health’s “Epuka Uchafu Afya Nyumbani” campaign launched in 2006 as a key intervention in promoting sanitation and cleanliness in vulnerable communities.
The newly established archive centre will preserve historical records, preserved jiggers and fleas, audio-visual materials, newspaper coverage, treatment tools, research documents and testimonies from survivors and affected families.
According to organisers, the facility will also serve as a national learning and research centre for schools, universities and public health institutions.
“This is a symbol of hope that we want to archive the jigger menace and demonstrate that dignity, health and opportunity is the new chapter that we are opening for the betterment of the society.” said Stanley Kamau the Ahadi Trust Kenya, founder and C.E.O.
He added that the launch of the archive and resource centre will act as and inspire the community towards awareness, prevention and how to find sustainable solutions at the community level.
Mudavadi further said preserving the history of the anti-jigger campaign was important because it highlighted how collaboration between communities, government, the media and development partners helped overcome a crisis that had long been ignored.
He urged Kenyans to remain vigilant and continue promoting hygiene, decent housing and sanitation to prevent a resurgence of jiggers and other poverty-related diseases.
“For years, jigger infestation was hidden behind shame and silence. Victims were excluded from schools, isolated by communities and denied dignity.
It is our collective responsibility to sustain the anti-jigger campaign to ensure that no Kenyan child or family ever again suffers the indignity of severe jigger infestation,” Mudavadi said.
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