Murang’a women worried no generation to leave behind
Children pass a man preparing a local brew. Money earned by the young men hardly reaches home because they spend their wages on alcohol, leaving their children and wives in hunger and desperation. Photo/FILE
An unspoken battle of the sexes is rife in this quiet town. The women in Murang’a are deeply saddened by the harm cheap liquors has caused to their sons and husbands.
But the men disagree that the brews are the cause of the region’s social problems. At Gatunyu market, which is surrounded by bars, patrons are freely imbibing and others are staggering home.
Gender minister Esther Murugi said in Parliament recently that women were complaining their men were weak. “The men from Central Province cannot sire children,” said the Nyeri Town MP.
Unemployment was cited as the major hindrance by the men while the women tell another tale: laziness. Money earned by the young men hardly reaches home because they spend their wages on alcohol, leaving their children and wives in hunger and desperation.
“The young men drink from dawn to dusk and come home at midnight banging doors demanding for food they did not provide,” one middle aged woman at Ndutumi area told the Nation last week.
Assistant minister for Provincial Administration Simeon Lesrima spoke of the problem during a recent visit. “Central Province has become the dumping ground for cheap liquors manufactured in Nairobi, causing untold suffering especially on the youth,” he said.
But the women say they are fighting a losing battle because the number of bars seems to increase by the day. And, their condition to persons wishing to vie for a political positions in the area in the upcoming elections: “Get rid of the alcohol, you get our vote!”
Some mothers are worried that their sons have hit 40 years with no signs of marriage in sight. A dangerous trend is slowly setting in as old married men are preying on their girls. “Sugar daddies are lying to our daughters,” they say.
Schools in the area have also reported a significant drop in pupil enrolment, a fact Central provincial director of education Patrick Nyagosia confirmed.
Kindergartens and lower primary classes are experiencing low enrolment in areas like Gatanga and Murang’a. Stephen Githae’s grandmother is still mourning his death after a drunken stupor. Thirty six-year-old Githae was not married and spent most of his time drinking.
