Mount Kenya Region has always hit the headlines for the proliferation of illicit alcohol that has rendered mostly the youths desperate.
Concerted Efforts by various stakeholders are yet to eradicate in total the menace of alcohol addiction which has robbed the region of its most critical resource the youths.
It’s in this respect that an organization under the auspices of Thamana ya Mwanaume in Kiambu County has come up with an initiative that seeks to address the situation in a more pragmatic approach.
According to the director of the organization, Rev. Jane Gichuki they have come to the following grassroots in a bid to have a conversation with the affected alcohol addicts and also chart the way forward on how these people can be rehabilitated in order to become useful people in the society.
“We have had a very candid discussion with them and most of them are willing to transform. It’s sad to note that even very qualified individuals have not escaped the addiction dragnet. We have people who have studied even to a degree level but illicit alcohol has rendered them totally destitute,” said the professional Counsellor.
The sad state of affairs is that alcohol is easily available for as low as just Kenya Shillings fifteen, a phenomenon that has made it be abused by very many youths most of them who confessed to using it alongside other intoxicating drugs such as bhang.
Take the case of Mr. Christopher Kinyua. He is a medic by profession. Though at first, he was hesitant to open up to us, h readily and candidly shares his fate with us:
“I studied medical biotechnology at JKUAT. Due to my lack of a job, I had to survive from hand to mouth through casual jobs, and the stipends I get mostly ended up with the drinking spree. I shelved my papers in the house due to loss of hope after tarmacking for so long looking for a job but to no avail,” the medic opens up.
But the good news is that Mr. Christopher has decided to change for the better. “I welcome this initiative and I’m ready to comply so as to better my life. I’m bursting with potential which I wouldn’t like to watch going down the drain. In this respect, if I get a job even today, I’m ready to work whilst upholding the highest ethical values,” the medic notes.
He also painted for us the sad state of affairs in that the same alcohol has Indeed snatched several people.
“Just a week ago we buried one of my buddies who committed suicide out of desperation. A day before he overdosed himself, he shared with me his story. He brandished his academic papers and he was conspicuously fed up with joblessness and hopelessness all over his face. We lost him just like that and several others had preceded him.”
Mr. Christopher believes that with political goodwill, and a multisectoral approach, the menace of alcoholism in central Kenya can be eradicated once and for all.
