From dining with the elite, to battling alcoholism on streets

At 73, Mzee Ben Mwangi is still an avid reader of newspapers. If you talk to him about history he can share much from his memory.

Mwangi was born in 1948 in Murang’a County in a place called Rwathia Kinyanjeru. He is one of the people privileged to have shaken President Jomo Kenyatta’s hand as well as enjoyed his generosity.

At around midmorning, we catch up with him at the Greater Life Concern (GLC) Rehab, away from what he called home.

He is basking in the sun on a green plastic chair, warming his weary body. In his hand was a newspaper that he says keeps his mind occupied.

As jovial as he was when he saw us, his broad smile showed old age is slowly catching up with him.

The smile transformed his face and years of hardship dropped from his face. Although his voice trembles when he utters his first words, I know he has not given up completely.

He pulls a chair and allows us to sit.

Mwangi says newspapers make him forget his troubles as well as bring back good memories. Born lucky and smart, he says he went to Alliance High between 1963 and 1966.

Upon completion, a friend introduced him to founding President Jomo Kenyatta and he soon secured a job at then Barclays Bank.

“I worked there for about eight years before trouble started.”

He was let go after being suspected of fraud. Soon, he found himself jobless and stressed over how to provide for his family.

“I had a family that looked up to me yet I had no income.”

Mwangi had been friends with the late Kenneth Matiba, whom he turned to for help in his time of need. His plan worked and he was given the position of chief accountant in one of Matiba’s hotels.

Mwangi says he believed one is only a thief if they are caught in the act.

He continued with the vice until 1978 when he was again suspended over fraud.

“Matiba summoned me in his office for questioning. I denied the accusation and he slapped me, splashing documents that proved my guilt on the table. We got into a fight and you know what followed.” He was sacked.

Not learning from his past mistakes, Mwangi and two of his friends started a scam of signing fake cheques to earn free money. Five years later, they were arrested and imprisoned for three years.

Upon his release, Mwangi says it was difficult to secure a job, especially while in the middle of a divorce case.

It was in this moment that he got depressed and found refuge in alcohol.

“When I came out of prison, my family wanted little to do with me. I was homeless.”

He tried working at construction sites but could not endure the hard labour.

“I went through a lot. I even thought of committing suicide. Imagine dining with prominent people like President Kenyatta and Matiba, only to end up eating from trash cans.”

He said for 10 years he lived on the streets before he was rescued by the rehab CEO Solomon Kilanga.

The CEO said, “I met Mwangi in 2018 when he was at his lowest point. He was into drugs and very weary. Being a man who had tasted street life for quite some time, I got touched especially with his age.”

He added that the push to manage a male rehab centre came as result of the rejection he endured from his family. Kilanga described street life as rough.

“It’s easier for a child or a woman to beg but for a man, it’s quite the opposite. If you happen to approach a woman for help the first thing they do is clutch their bag tightly and run. The men may even attack you.”

Kilanga said men living on the streets experience more deaths than women.

Counselling psychologist Jane Gitau who focuses on mental wellness and trauma said family members’ forgiveness plays a key role in the patients’ recovery.

Gitau, who works at the centre, said rejection is more painful and difficult to cope with when it’s from family members.

The rejection, she said, is likely to push the patients into isolation since they fear letting their families down again.

Mwangi is hopeful that one day he will set foot in his home. He appealed to his family to forgive him and take him back.