Gachagua Reveals How Wife Dorcas Helped Him Quit Alcohol

Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has opened up about his past drinking habits, revealing that his wife, Dorcas, played a key role in helping him quit alcohol.

Speaking while engaging the diaspora caucus in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, September 26, Gachagua said he used to drink before he became saved but described his drinking pattern as limited to Fridays and Saturdays.

“I have some little experience because I used to drink before I got saved,” Gachagua said, adding that Dorcas knew about his drinking and eventually talked him out of it.

He said he would typically drink between 5 pm and 11 pm before reporting to work the following day.

“She talked me out of it, and I want to thank her because since she talked me out of it I have really succeeded,” he said.

Gachagua said his drinking habit had affected his life at the time, saying things were really going badly for him.

His personal experience formed part of a wider concern he raised over the growing use of alcohol and illicit brews in Kenya, particularly among young people.

Gachagua Compares His Drinking Days with Kenya’s Current Alcohol Crisis

The former Deputy President (DP) said the drinking culture he sees in Kenya today is different from what he experienced when he was younger, when alcohol was largely associated with taking a drink after work.

He recalled the old Tusker slogan, “Tusker baada ya kazi,” saying the situation had now changed to what he described as “badala ya kazi,” as people increasingly drink throughout the day.

Gachagua said he recently witnessed the extent of the problem during a visit to Embu, where he arrived at a meeting at around 10 am and found a crowd that he said was already drunk.

“I went to my vehicle, sat there for 10 mins shedding tears of sorrow because I had stopped that nonsense and people had gone back to work,” Gachagua said.

Also Read: Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya Addresses Counterfeit Alcohol Concerns

Gachagua also spoke about Gathuri Ngui, an illicit brew he described as one of the dangerous alcoholic drinks associated with the Mount Kenya region.

He said a small packet of about 50ml, costing around Ksh 50, can be shared by three people, with the drink taking effect almost immediately.

“It’s a small packet about 50ml costing ksh 50. It’s shared by three people and it’s enough and it’s instant. The first guy takes a sip, gives the second guy, the second gives the third. By the time the third gets, the first guy is down,” he said

Gachagua expressed concern that young people who should form part of Kenya’s workforce are instead spending their time drinking.

“There is no work force. Our young boys are all drinking,” he said, describing the situation as “so painful to our parents, our women and everybody.”

Dorcas Links Alcohol Abuse to Deaths, Crime and Broken Families

Dorcas also spoke about the effects of alcohol and drug abuse, saying the problem was affecting young people and families across the country.

She said young men affected by drugs and alcohol were also contributing to wider social problems, including gender-based violence, linking the crisis to rising crime, hopelessness and premature deaths.

“Dead dreams produce mental illness, hopelessness. As a pastor, I see on the other side also, not only as a mother or a pastor. I see them; we are burying them, and we say we are tired and this thing must stop,” she said.

Adding that young people were increasingly turning to substances such as glue and Gathuri Ngui.

Dorcas called for greater advocacy against illicit brews, urging Kenyans in the diaspora to speak out against what she described as killer brews.

Also Read: Young Man Dies at Bar After Reportedly Drinking Alcohol

She said the consequences were also being reflected in the increasing number of young women becoming widows.

“I was attending to widows who were sixty years and above. Now I am attending to widows who are young women who are from 20 years with young children,” she said.

Linking alcohol consumption to road deaths, saying drunk driving was contributing to accidents across the country. She added that the resulting deaths were putting more families through loss.

 “We are burying people in Kenya like nonsense,” she said.

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DCP Leader Rigathi Gachagua and his wife Pastor Dorcas Rigathi. PHOTO/ NTV