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"content": "and even older, with grey hair saying “Baba”, I thought there was something a little bit amiss and I hoped that they were not under the influence of any of these substances that we are discussing. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one of the reasons why I support this Bill is because I opine---. This opinion is actually supported by my personal observation that alcohol abuse is a national disaster. I do not know a family that does not have a relative that they are struggling with to either rehabilitate; somebody they know who was bright, who was supposed to go to university and he has stopped studying because of alcohol; someone they know who was a great, intelligent, skilled person, who was killed in a road accident occasioned by drunken driving. I say this because even in my own family, I have brothers whom I struggle with and we also have close relatives that we are struggling with. They are struggling with the question of alcohol abuse. When you research, you will realize that when these young people quickly get exposed to university life and they get the idea that it is “cool” to drink, they get that peer pressure. I see young people as a former university lecturer - they feel that if they go and sit down together--- There is even something called “Blankets and wine”. People just go with blankets somewhere in a bush and drink. It is meant to be “cool”. They post it on facebook, to show how they went drinking and you will see the kind of behaviour that accompanies that kind of life. Therefore, as leaders, we must really come out publicly and recognize that alcohol abuse is a national disaster. It is not true that people drink because there are no jobs. That is not true. I know people who have large tracts of land that they should be tilling, but instead of doing so, growing crops, selling them and making a living to educate their children, they have been waylaid by alcoholism. I know more drunkards who are educated than those who are back home. I know more drunkards that are having white collar jobs than those who do not have any job. So, alcoholism is not only robbing us of the young talent that this country should have invested in, but it is also robbing us of middle aged Kenyans who are supposed to ascend to managerial positions. I went to my county the other day and I found a man calling himself the deputy headmaster of a school, and I looked at how pathetic the man was; drunk and disorderly, and I was asking myself whose children are supposed to be protected by that person. Whose children are going to learn under the tutelage of this teacher; a man who is urinating on himself in public? What example is he setting for the children when he stands in class and says that: “Study so that you can be a great man like me, as a teacher”, and the children the other day saw him drunk and sleeping in a trench? We must appreciate that we must do something to alcohol and drug abuse and we must ensure that this disease is properly treated. I agree with those who say that it must be declared that it needs medicine like in Article 43 of the Constitution. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, therefore, I support this Bill because – it must be recognized by many of our people here – it gives us an opportunity to put in place measures for treating, have a fund and for rehabilitating persons who have suffered because of alcohol abuse. As a person who has been in a family that has struggled with people of that nature, I have realized that it does not help to live in denial. When you have a relative who is drunk and disorderly, it is important to accept that they cannot be like you. It is important to accept that they are going through a disease so that then, as an individual, as a parent, as a brother or a relative, you can be able to look for medicine. Otherwise, you keep blaming them that they are stupid and unreasonable but you will never help them. The attitudes of Kenyans should change to ensuring that we accept that those who are addicted to alcohol are actually seeking medical attention The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}