‘It hurts!’ DP Gachagua opens up on losing brother to alcohol

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has opened up about his family's experience of losing his brother to alcohol.

Speaking in an interview at Inooro TV's Kiririmbi programme on Sunday night, the DP emotionally narrated the life and death of his brother Jackson Reriani, who he said died of alcohol abuse in September 2022.

"Whenever I go back home and see his grave, there is no one to talk to, all my sisters are married. I am the only one left in the Gachagua homestead. I do not have someone to talk to save for my bodyguards. It hurts me very much and I am not alone, many people are going through the same experience, people are just quiet."

While urging families to stop hiding their alcohol-addicted kin as he pushed for concerted efforts to end illicit brews and drug abuse, he said the death of his brother hit him hard as he was left without a sibling to talk with.

“When we talk about alcoholism and fighting the menace, it is not politics. We are speaking while experiencing so much pain in our hearts. We know what alcohol abuse has done to us, our neighbours and friends,” he continued.

Gachagua encouraged such families to speak out and called on the religious leaders to disclose to the public whenever one of their faithful succumbed to the effects of alcohol and drug abuse.

He highlighted the ravages of alcoholism on families and pressed families and the clergy to stop hiding information concerning alcohol and drug addicts in the pretext of saving the family's face.

According to Gachagua, the bottom line of the ongoing nationwide crackdown on illicit brews and drug abuse is to save families and generations and turn the youth into builders of the country’s economy.

“We must tackle alcoholism. To combat the proliferation of illicit brews, stringent measures will be put in place to monitor alcohol production and distribution. By enforcing strict regulations and conducting regular inspections, authorities will ensure that only licensed manufacturers produce alcohol, thereby reducing the availability of harmful and counterfeit products in the market,” he said.

According to data from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), one in every five families in Kenya has a relative suffering from physical and emotional health problems resulting from alcohol.