A single bet, then twice, then three times, and everything unfolds in no time; the teacher who was once smiling after every win from betting is contemplating suicide in the snap of a finger.
I’m talking about Mathew Ndiku, a Kiswahili and History teacher at Kisau Girls High School. He started betting in 2016, way back before he joined Kisau Girls in 2021.
“You see, by then I used to bet with little money. In 2018, I won Sh130000; in May 2022, I won Sh525000, then quit the game.
The devil visited again in 2024. I resumed the betting and got introduced to quick betting, won Sh30,0000 then Sh300,000, where I started having big dreams of winning millions and even purchasing a land in Nairobi’s Karen areas,” Ndiku said.
The more he dreamt of high winnings, the more money he spent, accumulating almost Sh 6 million.
Having accrued so many debts from loans and friends, he only had one sure way to escape this: suicide.
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Ndiku planned everything, and the sure way was drowning in a nearby Kinze Dam in Mbooni Sub-county. He went round the dam 11 times, and every time someone was fetching water, he aborted the mission.
“When your day is not yet, nothing happens. A pastor saw me from afar, approached me, and, for real, brought me back to life because I was already in another world spiritually. With the pastor’s talks, my principal, director, my family and colleagues, I aborted the mission and agreed to go to a Wellness Centre in Nairobi in 2024,” Ndiku said.
It was during that time at the Wellness Centre that he wrote two books: Wingu la Mabadiliko, which highlights addiction issues, poor leadership, bribery, family issues, among others, and how to curb them.
The second book he wrote was about ‘Addiction is a disease’, he highlights what betting people with an addiction face.
Unlike other addictions, where people can easily notice that this affects them alone, it is hard to notice.
He says addiction was gazetted during former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s era, terming it as a disease like any other, encouraging victims to seek medical help and learn to open up.
Currently, Ndiku has become a motivational speaker who has helped even very key people in society at the verge of death across the country due to betting, among other addictions.
The principal, Florence Kimeu (pictured below), overjoyed by the role the school played in Ndiku’s life, says the teacher went to a Wellness Centre and returned shoulders high because, instead of writing negative recommendations to the employer, the TSC, she chose to protect him.
“This is someone’s son, father, brother, husband, teacher and the like, so many depended on him, and a single slip, though serious, could not warrant me to see him interdicted or commit suicide. I resorted to helping him after we counselled him numerous times,” principal said.
She adds that in the school, they are not only teaching and nurturing students but also nurturing teachers. Kimeu adds that gambling, land conflicts, and family wrangles have led many to early graves.
“I personally thank our TSC Sub-County Director, who, after we narrated Ndiku’s story to her, supported us in correcting him rather than sending him packing. We could have lost him if we tried to mishandle him. He was at the verge of death,” Kimeu said.
The principal applauds Ndiku as the very best in his subjects and a very dedicated teacher.
By Lydia Ngoolo
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