Source: Destination Magazine A few days after I wrote that the impact of alcoholism on masculinity is a Central Province problem, State House has finally acknowledged the same. However, I don't think there's a philosophical conviction about curbing the problem for the sake of the dignity of Kenyan men. I think this is more about power and fertility that are at the heart of the tyranny of numbers. Even Waititu, who led a superman crusade (with all its implicated masculinity issues) against alcohol, is quoted as saying that "Most young people in this area cannot sire children as a result of this trend."
But does the reason for fighting alcoholism matter, as long as the war against alcoholism is fought?
But does the reason for fighting alcoholism matter, as long as the war against alcoholism is fought?
Of course the reasons matter. First, one will note from the statements from State House and the antics of MPigs like Baba yao, that the fight is against illicit brews, not alcoholism. Basically, the politicians are not questioning values related to masculinity, ethnicity and nationhood that have made them entrench the gap between the rich or the poor in Kenya which the poor are compensating for by drowning in alcohol. The politicians are not asking what is going to replace alcohol in the lives of Kenya's poor, which should ideally be things like employment, socially conscious education and recreation. The politicians are simply questioning the quality of the alcohol. In other words, the fight is that men are drinking "kumi kumi" and not Tusker, yet the end effect is the same.
And the rich men are not asking those questions because they are members of golf clubs, can afford holidays at the beach and abroad, and when they drink cognacs, whiskies, lagers and wines, they have drivers or cab fare to take them home. With the right support, they even become presidents. The poor, on the other hand, are going to take short cuts to reach the same place - brews with chemicals to make them drunk quicker, and drinking close to home so all they do is just walk home. And they don't have playing fields. Their education is a shell compared to what the rich can afford. There are no rehab centers for them. The sports bodies are shutting out several youth due to corruption and ethnic bigotry.
The alcohol problem is a class problem. And with devolution, this problem will devolve to all counties unless we have a rethinking of our national values, our political consciousness and our commitment to recreational space and rehabilitation facilities for the public. Which ties in to the use of land. The rampant commercialization of every inch of soil in Central Province has led to murder within families, land grabbing, the replacement of food growing with rental concrete structures and now the destruction of the lives of the youth who are squashed on small plots of land with no jobs and nowhere to breathe. When Wangari Maathai said Mother Nature can be unforgiving, we restricted Mother Nature's wrath to drought, famine and deterioration of tourist sites. We haven't recognized that the destruction of our youth, of our nation's future, is part of Mother Nature's indictment against us. And that's the second reason why the conviction behind fighting alcoholism matters - so that other counties avoid the mistakes of Central Province by seeing that alcoholism is a social and environmental malady which only be remedied through respect for Mother Nature, justice for the poor and a comprehensive social re-engineering.
And the rich men are not asking those questions because they are members of golf clubs, can afford holidays at the beach and abroad, and when they drink cognacs, whiskies, lagers and wines, they have drivers or cab fare to take them home. With the right support, they even become presidents. The poor, on the other hand, are going to take short cuts to reach the same place - brews with chemicals to make them drunk quicker, and drinking close to home so all they do is just walk home. And they don't have playing fields. Their education is a shell compared to what the rich can afford. There are no rehab centers for them. The sports bodies are shutting out several youth due to corruption and ethnic bigotry.
The alcohol problem is a class problem. And with devolution, this problem will devolve to all counties unless we have a rethinking of our national values, our political consciousness and our commitment to recreational space and rehabilitation facilities for the public. Which ties in to the use of land. The rampant commercialization of every inch of soil in Central Province has led to murder within families, land grabbing, the replacement of food growing with rental concrete structures and now the destruction of the lives of the youth who are squashed on small plots of land with no jobs and nowhere to breathe. When Wangari Maathai said Mother Nature can be unforgiving, we restricted Mother Nature's wrath to drought, famine and deterioration of tourist sites. We haven't recognized that the destruction of our youth, of our nation's future, is part of Mother Nature's indictment against us. And that's the second reason why the conviction behind fighting alcoholism matters - so that other counties avoid the mistakes of Central Province by seeing that alcoholism is a social and environmental malady which only be remedied through respect for Mother Nature, justice for the poor and a comprehensive social re-engineering.
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