More than 500 recovering drug addicts are expected to have been registered for Huduma Namba in Kwale County by May 25 deadline extension.
Most of the addicts are isolated by the community, making it difficult for them to get certain services including the Huduma Namba, according to Teens Watch Center coordinator Caroline Omondi.
"We decided to request registration assistants through the area chief to visit our centre to register the addicts who are our clients,” Omondi said in Ukunda town on Wednesday.
The addicts are among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and it was feared they could miss out on the National Integrated Identification Management System (NIIMS) registration.
Omondi said about 100 addicts are registering at the centre daily. Most of them had been reluctant to join other residents in other registration centres fearing stigmatisation.
“They feared the society will treat them negatively and opted to keep off the registration. This forced us to intervene,” she added.
Maulid Msururu, who is undergoing rehabilitation, says drug addicts are discriminated against and mistreated because they are considered social misfits.
“We fear to queue alongside other people for the registration because when you stand next to someone they feel uneasy. We are held in low esteem and with a lot of suspicion,” Msururu said.
He said they are avoided because they are dirty and eager to do awful things.
“A big per cent of people have this notion that addicts cannot change and will always be a nuisance. But they can reform given a chance and support,” Msururu said. He stopped taking drugs three years ago.
Area assistant chief Hassan Mwadzugwe says the pace of registration was smooth and urged those who had not been listed to do so.
