As the war against drugs, illicit brews, and second-generation alcohol in the central region intensifies, one man narrates to KNA how his love for alcohol ruined his life, marriage, and health and his over three decades-long struggle to quit the bottle.
One scorching Friday afternoon, we find Charles Mwaura Kamande at Kitini Makuyu in Maragua Constituency, where he has been contracted to paint a commercial house.
Walking with a limp on his left leg, 52 years old Mwaura warmly welcomes us and does not hesitate to highlight that he was not born limping, but a trip to the drinking den one day, left him with the disability.
“I took my first sip of alcohol while still in primary school,” he says, quickly adding that his father who was a senior government official in the 80’s would always stock alcohol in the house.
He would mischievously empty the contents of the whiskey bottles and conceal the vice.
Brought up in Nairobi’s Dagoretti Corner, Mwaura notes that the habit soon became full-blown dependency on alcohol, as the area was not short of illicit brew dens.
The father of four got into ‘malimali’ business which thrived, to sustain his family and his daily drinking habits until 1997 when chaos erupted in the Country and the business was reduced to nothing and he was forced to move back to the village in Murang’a.
“I was living life on the fast lane since money was in plenty; my life revolved around Nairobi’s high-end joints with friends and different women who loved me for my generosity,” he says, adding that in a night he would blow up to Sh.50,000 on alcohol.
Having lost his source of income and without any savings, Mwaura started life in the Village alone as his wife and children had adamantly remained in the City. “That is how I lost my first marriage,” he sadly recalls.
Life in the village was bearable as he embarked on farming and learnt building and painting. Thus he was not short of money to finance his drinking habits in the local dens that would sell brew as cheap as Sh20.
“I remarried again in 2,000, but by now my drinking was out of hand and as a result, I would batter my wife, neglect my children and often throw them out of the house,” he says with regret.
To further compound the problem, he would sell their farm produce and animals at a throw away price, which caused a major rift in the marriage and finally led to separation.
The separation lasted five years during which he got into a life threatening incident that would forever change his life.
“One morning in 2018, I left for Kenol Town to search for an open joint, so I could quench my thirst commonly known as kutoa lock, it was at 4 am and I met thugs who beat, clobbered me and left me for death,” he observes.
The professional painter would stay in the hospital for two months, thus the disability on his left leg.
Mwaura continued drinking after being discharged from the hospital until one day in 2019 when he got his Damascus moment.
“My life was a shell, without a family and without finances, yet I was earning very well, and having tried quitting numerous times without success, I decided to seek help in church,” he says.
He got saved and turned on a new leaf.
Mwaura further reunited with his wife and children and has managed to stay sober for six years now, while slowly but steadily rebuilding his life.
As the unforgiving sun sets over Makuyu, Mwaura has only one resolve: he may not recover the time wasted in drinking dens for over 30 years, but he can help other men and women who are determined, but struggling to quit the bottle.
“If you have never tasted alcohol, I beg you not to partake of it, learn from me as my journey has nothing but regrets, yet I thank God I am still alive to share my story and encourage others,” he advises.
By Florence Kinyua
