We must look to history for answers to tackling alcoholism, not attack traders

What you need to know:

  • The pre-colonial “Kenyan” state had almost no cases of the kind of alcoholism we see today.
  • Indeed, alcohol was emblematic of authority and power as the elders maintained the rituals that legitimised moral authority.

Although the decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta to take the lead in the fight against alcoholism is good for this country, it is crucial to probe the underlying forces that are driving scores of young Kenyans to drink themselves into imbecility and men to forfeit their natural God-given roles in the family as they drown themselves in cheap liquor.

More importantly, as stakeholders brace themselves for the long fight against alcoholism, it is imperative that we attempt to interrogate the role of historical traumas and the disruption of critical social institutions as an underlying cause of alcoholism, especially in the central Kenya region.

Like most other societies in Africa, the pre-colonial “Kenyan” state, or most communities that occupied present-day Kenya had almost no cases of the kind of alcoholism we see today. In these societies, most of which were governed by councils of elders, consumption of alcohol was carefully regulated.

Indeed, alcohol was emblematic of authority and power as the elders maintained the rituals that legitimised moral authority, often symbolised through their exclusive access to alcohol. Things changed with the coming of the colonial machinery.

The 20th century takeover of Kenya began with the imposition of new structures of administration, mostly chiefs, into communities that formerly knew no such political and social authorities. This dislocated power from the elders, who were considered political and judicial authorities, and the emergent dispensation offered important, novel opportunities to men without significant prior standing in their own communities.

The advent of capitalism introduced opportunities for such young men to gain power and, therefore, access to alcohol outside the control of older men.

Second, to support the colonial economy and entrench control, local brews were dismissed as sinful, unhygienic, and dangerously impure, while beer and imported wines were deified as clean and socially acceptable.

This trend went on in the post-colonial era when the State deemed local brews as detrimental to nation-building and progress and industrially produced alcohol as an engine to the local economy. The outcome of these measures meant that local brews went underground, thus falling into the hands of profit-minded, mafia-like networks whose only goal was making a profit.

Thirdly, I think the issue of dispossession, mostly of a violent kind, and the decline of masculinity is key in explaining the inordinate drunkenness, especially in counties around Mount Kenya.

TRAUMA

According to historian Caroline Elkins, British forces wielded their authority with a perverse colonial logic: only by physically and psychologically atomising almost the entire population of 1.5 million in central Kenya could colonial authority be restored and the civilising mission reinstated.

The heinous practice of castration of men in Central Kenya was one of the methods used to entrench colonial authority. It did not begin the other day with some women in Nyeri.

This trauma, first of dispossession of material resources and dignity, then of de-masculinisation, partly explains why alcoholism is heavily concentrated in central Kenya.

The hallowed place previously occupied by men was historically undermined through humiliation, violence, and death.

This massive disruption of an entire society through extreme violence and the decimation of mostly male members of the community meant that most households had no father figures.

Critical aspects of the social fabric were thus out of joint with one another. The results of this strain in an essential social structure are manifesting in alcoholism.

It might be accurate to suggest that as successive generations have grown without strong male father figures, boys have grown into men without realising the significant roles they have to play in society. In this confusion, alcohol has become a ready escape.

Perhaps the most urgent mission stakeholders should look into is the role of history in this scourge that is decimating young men.

Dr Omanga is the head of the Department Publishing and Media Studies at Moi University. [email protected]