• Counselling and follow-up were needed to assist those reforming
• Cancel bar licenses whose operators were misbehaving
Image: GEORGE MUGO
Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Kirika says the war on alcohol abuse needs a lot of partnership to control it.
She decried that the county has lost a lot of young, ambitious and energetic men and women to alcoholism.
Inadequate counselling and follow-up have resulted in some reformed addicts going back to the abuse, she said.
Young people should be leading productive lives but are wasting away instead.
“It is very unfortunate that we still have alcohol where our young people are still abusing,” Kirika said.
“We need to see our young people busy building their homes, working to earn a living, paying school fees for their children. We need also to see them attending churches.”
She said the war on alcoholism has two main steps of prevention and follow-up.
Her office is focusing on prevention of alcoholics drinks from being sold to young people, who end up abusing it.
“We must have a heart for our society. Let us counsel our children, our youth and people about the dangers of abusing alcohol. We do not want to lose people,” she said.
The deputy governor urged families not to tire of speaking and counselling their youthful children against alcohol abuse.
“When parents, brothers and sisters and even uncles speak to their youthful children about doing something they know is not good, a lot of them tend to stop,” she said.
“They will have helped the government and the society to fight alcoholism.”
Kirika also urged stakeholders to support Deputy President Rigathe Gachagua and his spouse Pastor Dorcas in their efforts to fight alcoholism until all affected young people get reformed.
A counselor, Faith Gichure, said that due to too much intake of alcoholic drinks, some men have become impotent and lazy.
They lose jobs and in the end, the vice contributes to poverty.
“We have seen women crying that they cannot sire children with husbands. Some families break up, people lose jobs and from there, poverty knocks on their doors,” she said.
Gichure urged the society to support the government and people of goodwill who fight alcoholism and drug abuse since they care for people they do not even know.
Voice of Men and Children national chairman Bishop James Njenga asked county governments to cancel some bar licences.
Some operators misbehave by selling alcoholic drinks to anybody just to make money, he said.
“Some bar operators sell the alcoholic drinks at any time. Only if you are not being seen," Njenga said.
"By so doing, other items, such as bhang and other drugs, find their way to the market.”
The bishop, who operates Compassion of Christ Church in Ndeiya, asked people to support all efforts to reduce the sale and consumption of illicit brews and drug abuse.