• The DP's wife urged MCAs and counties to control the number and location of bars
• Those opened near schools and churches are a bad influence on the youth, she said
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Second Lady Dorcas Gachagua has urged county government to rein in on bars operating in proximity to the youth to save them from alcoholism.
Speaking in Juja constituency on Friday, she said the rise in the number of bars in villages and towns is detrimental to the next generation.
“We are urging the county governments and our MCAs to make sure that no bars operate near schools or even churches because they will have a bad influence on the young generation,” Dorcas said.
She was addressing some 600 reformed addicts from Witeithie, Juja, Kalimoni and Theta wards.
Dorcas said devolved units have a role to play in the rehabilitation and transformation of alcohol and drug addicts by helping to build rehabilitation centres at ward levels.
“We will later rename the rehab centres to health villages as a way of ending stigmatisation,” she said.
“The recovering youth will be mentored and taken through the transformational journey so they can lead normal and decent lives.”
She said reformed addicts will be enrolled in technical institutes, where they will be equipped with vital life-changing skills that will enable them to become productive members of the society.
Gachagua called for community-based rehabilitation, saying society must be involved in helping children who indulge in drugs and alcohol change their lives.
“The community must show them love because they are our children. The government will intervene and ensure that they become productive Kenyans again,” she said.
“There are opportunities created by the government for the youth to better their lives, such as the Hustler Fund, which they can use to start their own ventures, and the housing project, where they will secure jobs.”
Kiambu MCAs, led by Geoffrey Mucheke (Kalimoni) and Moses Ngatha (Murera), said the number of liquor outlets in the region has been significantly reduced after the devolved unit intensified regulation of licensing.
Ngatha urged Governor Kimani Wamatangi's administration to put up a rehabilitation centre in Juja to help youth willing to transform their lives.
He said most youth shy away from being rehabilitated due to the high cost of the services at private institutions.
“The county government should intervene and put up the rehab centres, where willing addicts can access the rehabilitation services without any financial hitches,” Ngatha said.
“This way, many will benefit and the fight against alcoholism will be won easily.”
Mucheke said the Kiambu government will support reformed addicts with pigs and kienyenji chicken to enable them have an income generating activity.
“This is just a way of engaging them so they can concentrate on productive things and at the same time generate a decent income,” he said.