A dark world for survivors of killer brew as families wallow in poverty

Josphat Nzioka being helped by his wife Bibiana to break stones into ballast at their Kithuki village home, Makueni County on July 2, 2016 which they sell at construction sites. Nzioka was blinded by Countryman drink at Thome bar which also claimed lives of 20 other people. A former livestock trader, Nzioka says his life has been shattered as he cannot provide for his family and is totally dependent on his wife. [PHOTO: PHILIP MUASYA / STANDARD]

About 50 men’s thirst for a drink led them to Kosovo bar in Kitise in the southern end of Makueni County.

Another group made its way to Thome bar in Kithuki where the revellers ordered for their favourite brand; Countryman.

What followed soon after was like a scene from a horror movie. In about two days, 20 people among them Miriam Wavinya, the owner of Thome Bar, lay dead sending the two sleepy villages into mourning.

Kithuki health centre was overwhelmed by the rising death toll and bodies were strewn on the floor before ambulances transported them to Makueni Level 4 Hospital. Those who survived effects of the lethal drink turned blind.

Two years later, The Standard on Saturday traced the blind survivors and relatives of the victims in the two villages. Grass thatched shacks greet you as you approach the sleepy villages.

It is here, where farms are bereft of vegetation and locals have sunk into poverty that the Countryman drink became popular because of its affordability.

When we made our way to the homestead of Muema Kakuli, 56, we found him lazily wobbling across the compound using his rudimentary whitecane.

“I totally depend on my wife. I can’t see completely,” lamented Mr Kakuli, saying since the tragedy, his family has sunk deeper into poverty as he cannot provide for them.

He recounted how he lost his eyesight while being treated at Makueni Level 4 Hospital where he also witnessed his colleagues bodies being carted away to the mortuary after they breathed their last.

Kakuli said his vision became blurred before he went blind and had to be woken up by nurses one morning to take tea. When he complained why he was being woken up “in the middle of the night,” the nurses just laughed.

“Walisema...huyu pia amepoteza macho (He has lost his sight),” he recalled. Unknown to him, his young brother who had gobbled down two bottles of the toxic drink had died.

“I had to be guided to his burial since I couldn’t see,” he said. Asked whose blame for the tragedy, Kakuli thundered: “I blame the government for negligence. The bar was licenced and the owner was operating legally. We had no way of knowing if the drink was adulterated. Why didn’t they (government) check?”

Benjamin Musumbi, 36, another blind man, joined us at Kakuli’s homestead after he was aided by his elder brother.

Distraught

As we set to interview him, a seat was placed beside him. He struck it with his walking cane then felt it with his right hand before sitting down.

Mr Musumbi cut the image of a bitter man and it was evident that he is yet to reconcile with the fact that at his prime age, he can’t see nor work. At least for now.

“I had just arrived home two days earlier from Mombasa and decided to join my friends for an evening out. I didn’t know I was walking straight into blindness,” he lamented. He never returned to Mombasa as he is totally dependent on his siblings and father.

“I am willing to learn braille and other skills if supported. Despite being blind, I believe there is something I can do. I also want to marry and have a family,” he said.

His distraught father, Jones Maingi, a retired Administration Police Officer said doctors at Kikuyu Eye Hospital told him his son’s optic nerves were totally damaged.

“It’s a huge burden to us. You see he is an adult but can’t do anything for himself. He needs skills to depend on himself and organise his future,” he said and called on well wishers to help his son.

Across the neighbouring Kithuki village, we found Josphat Nzioka, 53, who is partially blind, behind his grass thatched house blasting stones with a mallet which he sells as at construction sites to earn a living. His wife supplements the family income by doing odd jobs.

Before the misfortune, Mr Nzioka was a livestock trader at the busy Kathonzweni market. That is no more. A permanent house that he was constructing for his family has since stalled.

“The drink destroyed my life. My wife does everything,” he said.

“At the hospital, they treated the effects of the lethal drink but advised us to seek medical help elsewhere for our eye problems. I gave up because I can’t afford it,” he stated.

Bibiana, his wife, said: “I am left with the burden of caring for the family and tending to our farm. It is hard.”

The family has placed their hopes on their first born son who is now a fifth year engineering student at Moi University. “He relies on government loans which are very irregular and inadequate,” Bibiana said.

Tests at the government chemist found that the killer drink was 100 per cent methanol.