Let's declare 2025 the year of national detoxification

 

A vineyard near Capetown, South Africa. Intoxication has other sources beyond alcohol. [XN Iraki]

We are just back from the festive season. Its memorable moment was traffic jams on the Nairobi-Naivasha highway.

Why jams when everyone is crying over lack of money? Kenyans were looking for cheap holidays in the countryside, life is hard in the city. Who can dispute that? 

We normally have another less talked about mini traffic jam as Kenyans from abroad (majuu) come home, mostly in Nairobi.

We had a trickle this year. A result of negative publicity?

You can easily identify such Kenyans by their accent and use of the term Jamhuri. Their attire also betrays them; some look like astronauts.

They frequent high-end places like golf courses, always demanding to see the manager. Another category of Kenyans visit abroad, with Dubai and South Africa as popular destinations. Kenyans now have relatives all over the world which makes visiting easier.

Festivities are expensive despite a year of savings and generosity from even the mean. One popular accompaniment during the festive season is alcohol, and suppliers can confirm that. It does not matter if it’s illicit brews, traditional brews or “official” brews with international brand names and prestige that go with that.

 Out of curiosity, what is Kenya’s equivalence to Ugandan Waragi or Tanzanian Konyagi?

Some get intoxicated during the festive season to relax, make merry or just show off. It has always fascinated me why taking alcohol or smoking is a rite of passage at 18.

Why should swallowing or smoking something be a sign of maturity?

Why not be innovative, creative and responsible? Why at 18 years?

With the alcohol problem bedevilling some parts of this country, why not shift the legal age to 21? 

There is a good reason why traditionally, only the elderly were allowed to take alcohol (that included women) in most societies. Can you ask your grandparents?

My other fascination with alcohol is the generosity of the takers. I rarely see people competing to buy rounds of tea, soda or uji.  Why alcohol, be it beer, wine or even chang’aa? There is something unusual about alcohol.

Why is it used in ceremonies, traditional and Christian? Do Eastern religions like Hinduism or Buddhism use it in their ceremonies?

Why does Islam forbid alcohol? How come, even the most primitive societies brew alcohol? 

Let’s face a fact, or no longer a young country to be intoxicated. The intoxication is not just through alcoholic drinks. There are many other intoxicants. Is it because our country has reached the age of intoxication as traditionally defined? 

Socio-economic classes

Let’s list the common intoxications in Kenya. They cut across ages and socioeconomic classes.

The political class is intoxicated with political power. It’s one reason why Gen Zs protested. This class, new to power is going through the learning curve which looks flatter than originally anticipated.

The intoxication is espoused by the decisions made, the language used in the filling of various positions, the conspicuous display of power through assets like cars and intolerance of alternative views. 

Punishment is not the only way to demonstrate one has power. How about uplifting others?  

The upper and middle class are intoxicated with status starting with baby names. Why is every baby boy Ethan, Ryan, Jayden or Liam? What are the baby girl’s cool names?  

Noted how the golf club entry fees have gone up? While the market is at play, with few golf courses being built, status is maintained if fewer people join the club.

Other status symbols include residence, which is getting diluted as once prestigious estates like Lavington join Githurai. Add the cars we drive, the school for our children, the place of worship (church or chapel), and stories shared online about lifestyles, from places visited to certificates acquired or honeymoon destinations. 

The lower socioeconomic classes are intoxicated with alcohol, easily available in every small or big town. But the upper and middle classes are not spared either.

They take alcohol out of boredom and lack of alternative entertainment. Drugs are another intoxicant. Does that include khat and bhangi? 

The younger generation is intoxicated with social media.

They are on it 24 hours. One hopes they seek opportunities, not just “likes” and muchene. This intoxication is cutting off a whole generation from reality - on relationships and even entrepreneurship. Even online businesses sell real things. 

Another intoxicant is religion, cutting across social and economic classes. The number of churches in every village and hamlet far outnumber schools or factories.

They have very fancy names.

The media reports on Shakahola to the faithful barred from heaven, has left an intoxicated nation. When politics gets religious overtones, this intoxication takes another turn. 

How would you classify intoxication with money? Everyone wants money through hooks and crooks.

Noted the money lost through corruption and plain theft?

There is a misplaced belief that money is everything and will solve all our problems. Kindly have a candid discussion with the moneyed. 

How can we forget betting and gambling? Every TV and radio station are busy advertising that. Why work when you can get rich (omoka) through lottery or betting?

Please add to the list and declare your intoxicant. English Premier League? What’s driving this intoxication? It’s national emptiness.

Over time we have eroded the institutions that gave us meaning and purpose. The family, religion, governments and traditions.

Entertainment avenues

Family is under pressure to be modern, jettisoning values like respect, ethics and the centrality of man. Religions have been commercialised and now compete for customers like supermarkets.

There are few entertainment avenues beyond these intoxicants. Public parks and other such facilities?

Our traditions have been eroded by modernism, shifting to moral relativism, and everything goes.

 The government has not defined and articulated superordinate goals that can pull the nation together. Think of Vision 2030, big 4 or BETA. 

Where do we go from here?

All these intoxications require detoxification. Can we declare 2025 the year of national detoxification?

We may not all be sober by Christmas 2025, but we shall have started the journey. From our homes to State House, can we redefine our core values, and live by them? That would be a small but significant step in national detoxification.