Acting CEO of the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) Prof John Muteti has shared how he found himself at the helm of the authority.
Muteti took over from Victor Okioma on May 15 after proceeding on retirement upon the expiry of his five years term.
Speaking to the Star at his office, Muteti who hails from Emali in Makueni had seen the level of alcohol and drug abuse going on in the area, mostly by truckers using the busy Mombasa Road.
According to the CEO, Emali, a small town along Mombasa Road is very notorious for drugs and alcohol abuse because of the trucks.
“The traffic which passes through the town and that area is such that the drugs especially bhang and hard drugs are consumed a lot,” he said.
“I thought it is an area which I might want to contribute so that we can help our people at the grassroots; give them enough knowledge and education on this issues of alcohol and drug abuse through surveys, through publications and such that is how I found myself working at Nacada,” he added.
Before taking over as the acting CEO, Muteti was the Director, Research Policy and Planning at Nacada.
A job he says he has done for the past seven years after the authority advertised for the position and he saw it as a good opportunity to conduct research that would have an impact on the lives of Kenyans.
“As a scholar, I wanted to do a lot of publications so I thought it was the opportunity to research and publish in areas which might be useful to society and one of them is fight against alcohol and drug abuse.”
He holds a Masters Degree in Economics and Social Studies from The University of Manchester, U.K and a Post Graduate Certificate in Statistics for Social Policy from Munich Center for Advanced Studies, Germany.
Muteti holds a Doctorate degree in Strategic Management from Nelson Mandela University, South Africa and a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Studies from Victorian University, Manchester.
He also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Project Management from Bradford University, UK and a degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi.
Muteti has conducted numerous surveys and publications on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and is the current Editor in Chief, The African Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (AJADA).
AJADA is an International peer reviewed Journal on issues to do with alcohol and drug abuse policies, public education, enforcement, treatment and strategies to counter the problem among others.