I have always “admired” the zeal at which Kenyans adore the
drink. Kenyans will go hungry for days but still have their drink come Friday,
the weekend or in some cases DDO’s (daily drinking officers). I believe I would be right if I said that 70%
of deaths in Kenya are related to the bottle. Mostly it Is either a road
accident, an alcohol related disease, stress etc. Recently in Central province
in a small center called Gathiga young ladies were demonstrating, due to the
fact that nursery schools were being shut down in the area. This they said was
as a result of lack of children to go to the schools. These stories disturbingly
have been replicated in other major parts of the country. Instead of the men
gracing their matrimonial beds in the night, they live in the drinking dens and
some of them come home in the wee hours of the morning and sleep all day. (Gone
be the dream of baba Jimmy of a working Nation) going back to the same dens in
the evening for the same cycle.
As if this is not painingly enough we have nurtured a police
and administration service that has wolves and vultures in their midst. Many
are the times Wananchi have put their lives at risk and reported the illegal
water holes in villages and estates, only for them to be disappointed because
the officers go in and come out with bulging pockets. The aftermath of this is
a slowly dying society.
During the ancient times when our country comprised of small
villages and culture was the norm of the day, Drinking of brews by young people
was unheard of. This was left to the old men in the society. Nowadays it is not
a public spectacle to see half naked infants in skin hugging pants staggering
on the streets on weekends. As if this is not enough you will hear them singing
loudly to very obscene tunes. To me the problem at hand is not only illegal
alcohol but control of alcohol as a whole.
If you think this is not a problem for Kenyans hope this
will wake your mind. It took four terrorists four days in Westgate to inhumanly
kill 65 Kenyans but it only took a week to kill more than one hundred Kenyans
using a drink. Do your math. Alcohol in Kenya is worse than terrorist attacks.
It is the high time that whoever is advising the government
on policy issues gets their head out of the sand and come up with a solution
for this menace.
