NAIROBI, Kenya May 26 – Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi has commissioned Kenya’s first jigger museum and archive centre in Murang’a County, describing it as a major milestone in the country’s fight against stigma, poverty-related diseases and public health neglect.
The facility, established by Stanley Kamau through Ahadi Kenya Trust, will serve as a national archive and learning centre documenting Kenya’s decades-long battle against jigger infestation.
Speaking during the unveiling of the Ahadi Kenya Trust Jigger Archive and Community Resource Centre, Mudavadi said the museum would preserve the history, lessons and testimonies from communities affected by jiggers while helping to fight stigma through education and awareness.
“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.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary noted that jigger infestation once affected more than three million Kenyans, especially children and elderly people living in poor rural households.
He praised Ahadi Kenya Trust for spearheading grassroots interventions that transformed thousands of lives through treatment programmes, hygiene campaigns and community sensitisation initiatives.
According to Mudavadi, the anti-jigger campaign which began in Murang’a in 2007 later expanded to several counties across the country, becoming one of Kenya’s most impactful community-driven public health campaigns.
The newly launched museum and archive centre contains preserved specimens of jiggers and fleas, historical records, treatment equipment, newspaper archives, audio-visual materials, research documents and testimonies from survivors and affected families.
Organisers say the facility will also operate as a research and learning centre for schools, universities, researchers and public health institutions.
Dr Kamau said the museum was established to ensure future generations understand the dangers of neglecting hygiene and sanitation while preserving the story of communities that overcame stigma and poverty-related diseases.
“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 we are opening for society,” he said.
Mudavadi called on Kenyans to continue promoting proper hygiene, decent housing and sanitation to prevent the resurgence of jiggers and other preventable diseases.
He said preserving the history of the anti-jigger movement was critical in highlighting how collaboration between communities, government agencies, volunteers, health workers and development partners helped tackle a crisis that had long been ignored.
