Kiambu Woman Representative has launched a programme to rehabilitate secondary school leavers who have become drug addicts and alcoholics in Gatundu North, Kiambu County.
Anne Wamuratha said that the initiative is aimed at saving thousands of alcohol addicts especially the boy child in the region.
Speaking at Makwa village during a free medical camp organized by her office, she decried that most young men in the region have been rendered unproductive due to heavy consumption of illicit brews including chang’aa and second generation liquor.
“The boy child is now the cause of pain and anguish in most families within this region. They have been turned into zombies by outlawed liquor and we must rise and save them from the jaws of death. We cannot sit back and watch as our youth and especially young men perish to illicit brews,” Wamuratha said.
The Woman Rep also noted that most young men in the region are either unmarried or have deserted their families due to heavy indulgence in liquor consumption.
“Most of them cannot perform their marital duties and this spells doom for the future generations,” she added.
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The MP who was accompanied by her Murang’a counterpart Betty Maina and Mathira MP Eric Mwangi said that the programme has started bearing fruits after successful rehabilitation of 100 youth who are now the initiative’s ambassadors.
“We want to engage them in projects that are of significance to the community and to their families like planting of trees. After rehabilitation we will seek partnerships with corporates and other like-minded well-wishers to instigate projects which will enable them eke a decent living,” she said.
Wamuratha noted that the programme will take a communal approach to ensure that those rehabilitated are accepted back into the community so they contribute to its transformation.
MP Mwangi welcomed the programme and reiterated that the government is keen to wipe out illicit brew in the Mt. Kenya region.
Mary Waithera, a resident, said that illicit brew has been the reason behind poverty in the region and other social predicaments.
“Our sons have been drinking and sleeping in trenches. They cannot work or have families to take care of. We are glad and hope that this programme will help our children and save them from perishing.” Waithera said.
By Kamau Njoroge
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