Kenya does not know exactly how many of her citizens die by suicide each year.
On Wednesday, Youth Affairs CS Salim Mvurya appeared before the Senate in Kilifi and said that available government data shows that between 400 and 500 Kenyans die by suicide each year.
Mr Mvurya, however, gave a disclaimer that those numbers are an underrepresentation of the true picture, as there is no robust data collection system.
A 2023 Ministry of Health policy brief estimated that four people die by suicide each day, which would mean that the numbers could be nearly three times those presented by Mr Mvurya to the Senate.
The Youth Affairs CS said that his ministry is in the process of setting up a national registry to capture numbers more accurately, a first step in addressing a growing mental health crisis in Kenya that has seen deaths by suicide balloon over the years.
Mr Mvurya told senators that historically, suicide and self-harm are underreported in Kenya due to deep-rooted socio-cultural stigma.
Cabinet Secretary Creative Economy, Youth Affairs and Sports Salim Mvurya.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
Further, data on a citizen's mental health assessment, psychiatric diagnosis, substance use treatment or suicidal behavior constitute highly protected personal data under data protection and confidentiality as provided for by the Data Protection Act, 2019.
The Health ministry’s 2023 policy paper showed that suicide deaths for men were five times higher than those for women.
The brief also pointed out that an average of 470 cases of attempted suicide were reported to the police, although the real numbers may be much higher due to underreporting, as 75 percent of Kenyans do not have access to mental health services.
Globally, over 700,000 suicide deaths are reported per year, and 14 million reports of attempted suicide, with suicide being ranked among the top three leading causes of death worldwide.
"Baselines on general national health indicators record approximately 400 to 500 reported suicide deaths annually across the total population," said Mr. Mvurya.
The situation could, however, change with CS Mvurya revealing that the government is currently working towards a unified National Suicide Registry under the Ministry of Health.
Until the registry is fully operationalised, he said, existing figures rely on fragmented reporting across police records, civil registration and healthcare facilities.
The minister's revelations followed a question by Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo, who wanted to know the annual statistics on the number of creatives who have died by suicide from 2023 to date and clarity on whether the ministry maintains a database tracking cases of suicide, attempted suicide, depression, substance abuse and other mental health challenges among creatives.
Senator Madzayo's concerns come hot on the heels of last month's death of Urbantone musician Stoopid Boy (Edgar Ochieng Awili), known for his hit song "Gbag na Jag", which was reported to be a death by suicide.
Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
In 2020, award-winning gospel artist Dennis Mwangi, alias Papa Dennis, was reported to have died by suicide after allegedly jumping from a building in Ngara, Nairobi and recently, there was also the case of TV personality Kimani Mbugua reportedly dying by suicide.
In his response, CS Mvurya said the ministry acknowledges the troubling trend of public mental health crises and premature deaths among artists, musicians and digital creators since 2023.
Nevertheless, he indicated that the national government does not maintain a disaggregated registry tracking annual suicide rates, attempted suicide or specific mental health diagnoses, exclusively by profession or sector.
This is because the standard mortality reporting frameworks utilised by law enforcement and public healthcare facilities do not record occupational background as a mandatory variable.
"Consequently, sector-isolated figures for artists and content creators do not exist in public national datasets," he said.
Mr Myurya said the ministry recognises that creatives work in a unique high-stress environment characterised by financial volatility and irregular income streams, intense social media scrutiny, cyber-bullying and loss of privacy and high rejection rates and public pressure to sustain relevance.
"These occupational stressors frequently create an interconnected risk pathway where chronic stress leads to depression or anxiety, which can spur problematic substance use as a coping mechanism, ultimately heightening vulnerability during emotional crisis," said the CS.
Data from the civil registration services between 2018 and 2021 showed increasing prevalence of suicide deaths.
Nonetheless, the numbers might not represent the accurate situation in the country because the criminalisation of suicidal attempts in the country has affected suicide surveillance.
However, the High Court in January 2025 declared Section 226 of the Penal Code, which criminalized attempted suicide, unconstitutional.
Frameworks for reporting self-harm without fear of social reprimand remain a challenge across local communities.
