Murang’a’s silent crisis: Illicit alcohol, lost lives and a county in pain

FW, 40, started using drugs at the age of 14 while in secondary school before she dropped out.

Young and with no access to money, the Murang’a town native would take spirits with sodas but as she got used to the hard liquor, she would consume them without dilution.

“I would take alcohol, cigarettes, miraa and bhang, and eventually got addicted before falling pregnant,” FW said.

After giving birth, she struggled to care for her baby as her health dwindled due to the heavy consumption of drugs and poor diet.

FW at one point unsuccessfully attempted to sell her baby for Sh20,000 to quench her thirst for alcohol.

Her teeth chipped while her body was filled with scars that she would incur while in stupor.

FW eventually became a petty thief and was arrested several times over the course of her 15-year addiction.

In a day, she would consume liquor worth Sh300, Miraa  (Sh200), heroine (Sh200) and bhang worth Sh100.

To sustain her expensive lifestyle, FW started spiking revelers’ drinks in clubs in Murang’a town to steal from them.

Her turning point came in 2015 when the national government undertook a nationwide crackdown on second generation liquor.

The then Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria started a free rehabilitation camp at Ihura stadium in Murang’a town that saw over 1,000 youths rehabilitated.

One of the beneficiaries was Wanjiru who was rehabilitated for four months and was able to go back to secondary school, which she completed in 2019.

“Many of the friends I kept back then have since died. Some out of sickness, others died after being hit by cars while drunk and some were lynched for stealing”.

FW has since become a peer counseller and spends her time going to learning institutions and churches talking to youths about the cons of experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

She also uses the forums to talk to youngsters on teen pregnancies, having been one herself.

“I am now over a decade sober. I am concerned because when I was treated, second generation liquor went off the market but it is now back and is affecting many youths. Many homes have buried young people who have died of alcoholism and suicide,” FW said.

She appealed to the government to close down manufacturing plants that produce substandard liquor or compel them to only sell drinks that are up to par.

In Kabuta village, Dennis Kimani, a casual laborer, said frustrations at times plunge youths into alcoholism.

At 34 years, Kimani depends on transporters who engage him to load and offload trucks carrying construction materials. At times, the jobs are unavailable and Kimani has to scavenge for food.

His wife and two children left a few years back as he could not sustain them and his drinking had become progressively worse.

Every morning before work, Kimani takes a hard drink, locally known as ‘kutoa lock’ so he can go to work. Without it, his hands shake too much and his mind becomes foggy.

“I started drinking after my KCSE. I would hang out with friends and we would all go to the shopping centre to drink. They all left but my parents had no money to take me to college,” he said, throwing his hands in the air in resignation.

With no savings and living in a house built for him by his parents, Kimani said he avoids thinking about the future and prefers to live everyday as it comes.

Reverend Esrom Kamau from PCEA Kamunyaka Parish in Gatanga subcounty said he deals with addicts such as Kimani on a weekly basis.

In October last year, Kamau held a goat-eating event in which he invited local youths and used the platform to sensitise them on addiction.

“It’s unfortunate that most of these men are in their most productive ages but are unable to plan their lives because of alcohol. Many are unmarried and those who are, depend on their wives for food,” he said.

The clergyman said the youths blame their addiction on joblessness and domestic wrangles but added that some are inducted through peer pressure.

“Later this month, I plan to invite them again so we can sit and talk. I like to inspire hope in them and I will not stop,” he said, adding that most avoid churches due to stigma.

In Kongo-ini village, Kiharu, Grace Wahu, 87, shared a story of grief after losing nine children and two grandchildren, majority of them to alcohol related complications.

In 2024, the granny caught the attention of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who was championing the fight against alcoholism countrywide.

Wahu has lost seven sons to alcoholism and narrated her ordeal sorrowfully, explaining how they battled addiction for years before losing their lives.

This, she said, is despite her efforts to give them a good education. One son went to Murang’a High School and another to Aquinas Boys High School.

Her hope was that they would grow up to drive big cars and live large and visit her with loads of shopping.

Instead, her homestead is now dotted with graves, some of them too fresh in her mind that she avoids their physical location. Her husband died when the children were still young.

“I pray to God every morning when I wake up because He blessed me with many children but sometimes I ask Him, ‘Why did you give me strength to do all that hard work only to face their graves?” she said.

Wahu now lives with her daughter, a casual labourer, who struggles to support her. Her sons’ deaths caused her to suffer from diabetes and hypertension and doctors tell her to feed well to manage them.

“She only earns Sh300 per day and only works four days in a week sometimes. Sometimes, I can’t eat the food that is available because of my condition,” Wahu says.

She narrated how her sons who died at various intervals would wake up in the morning and head to Mukuyu market near Murang’a town before taking breakfast.

Drinking on an empty stomach, they would eventually fall sick and doctors would caution them to stop drinking to no avail.

“My sons would see their brothers get sick and still continue drinking. You wonder what sort of drinking that is. One was taken to a rehabilitation centre and got better but when he came back home, he resumed drinking”.

Two of the sons left behind four children who are all jobless.

Wahu is pleading with the government to relentlessly fight the menace and ensure harmful drinks are weeded out of the market.

According to the Alcohol and Beverages Association of Kenya (Abak), about 59 per cent of alcoholic beverages sold locally are illicit.

But psychologist Albert Mwangi said addiction is a disease and that should be treated with compassion and care.

In Central region, Mwangi said most addicts are mistreated and given negative labels such as ‘mlevi’ by the society.

He said addiction depends with the substance and an individual’s genetic make-up.

“Some people can be addicted to a substance in a few days while others can take weeks or even months”.

Addiction, is psychological and rewires the brain, altering circuits for pleasure, motivation,and self-control and creating intense cravings and compulsive behaviours to seek relief from negative feelings, rather than just pleasure.

This turns a simple desire into a powerful mental dependency that reshapes brain structure and function

“Addictive substances flood the brain with dopamine, a feel-good hormone, creating intense pleasure, but the brain adapts by reducing natural dopamine, making normal activities feel less rewarding and increasing dependence,” Mwangi said.

Even worse, the youth seek to escape from withdrawal symptoms by drinking more, creating a destructive cycle.

Mwangi said addicts require detoxification from the substances, after which they need support to adopt a healthier lifestyles and avoid risky areas or company.

“We need to stop being too judgmental to addicts and instead love them, show them compassion. That’s the only way we can help to reform them”.

Eliud Wanja, chief officer for public health and administration in Murang’a county, said measures have been put in place to stem alcoholism, including reduction of bars in the villages and strict enforcement of alcohol control laws.

Further, the county administration undertakes Murang’a Youth Service programme that engages youths in paid community service where they earn about Sh400 per day before they are enrolled in local Tvets and given Sh15,0 00 capital to start businesses.

The county also provides internship opportunities for young people in various departments and engages them in community development projects undertaken in partnership with MCAs such as ECDE centres renovations, roads, markets and other infrastructural programmes.

“We also organise ward-based tournaments to positively engage the youths and promote talent and provide free training for boda boda riders,” Wanja said.

A 2022 study on the status of family conducted by National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) revealed that 41.9 per cent of families in Murang’a have a member who consumes alcohol.

According to the findings, some are addicted to the point that they cannot feed themselves as any money they come about is used to buy more liquor.

Data from National Authority for the Campaign Against Drugs Abuse (Nacada) confirmed that about 17.5 per cent of Kenyans aged 15 to 65 currently use at least one drug or substance with alcohol being the most abused substance, affecting about 3.2 million Kenyans.

In Central, an estimated over 13 per cent of adults consume alcohol regularly.