Murang'a residents recount woes at hands of drunken relatives

Cecilia Nyambura, 70, speaks of the suffering families in Murang’a have undergone due to alcoholism. [PHOTO: BONIFACE GIKANDI/STANDARD]

A 70-year-old woman narrated to a meeting in the county how money kept disappearing in her home because of her drunken son.

Cecelia Nyambura said her son would spend the cash he had stolen in drinking dens, plunging the family into helplessness.

"My son had been wasted by liquor but today I must confess he has recovered. But as a family we have to ensure he will not slip back to the menace," she said.

Ms Nyambura was among other men and women who testified how the General Ihura Rehabilitation Centre, opened in July this year, had helped save their children.

Some women recounted how some of their spouses had wasted family resources on alcohol as their sons had to deal with failed marriages as a result of drunkenness.

She expressed concern that some members of the county assembly had opposed the rehabilitation when some of their children were beneficiaries.

DEVELOPED COMPLICATIONS

Mzee Maina wa Daudi was lost of words as he narrated how his son developed complications and later died while undergoing rehabilitation.

"If this camp had been opened much earlier, my son would have been saved as he was an alcoholic," said Mr Maina.

Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria said he was committed to fighting alcoholism at all levels in efforts to revamp regional economy and enhance wealth creation.

The county chief said the 360 recovering alcoholics would be assisted to join the job market.

The camp has also benefited people in 10 other counties after alcoholism was declared a national threat.

"The church, elders and family will be charged with the task of monitoring the recovering addicts to ensure none revert to alcoholism,' said the governor.

He said recovering addicts who lacked professional courses would be given bursaries to study in technical institutes and attached to contractors hired by the county government once they completed their courses.

Former teachers, he said, would be recruited by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and posted to schools.

Iria hinted that six secondary school students who had dropped out of school would return and complete their studies.

"There are at least seven who were sacked from the police and the military due to alcoholism. They will be absorbed by the county government reinforcement unit. The teachers will be hired by the county government until they are re-admitted by TSC," said Iria.

During the meeting, the public told the governor that wines and spirits premises that had been closed down had now been re-opened.