Cultivating cordial and strong family ties has been cited as a critical social pillar in addressing rising cases of mental illnesses in Nyeri County.
Nyeri County Commissioner Ronald Mwiwawi says some of the mental health issues affecting residents of the area could have been avoided if the victims had families where they could run to and find help when they were at their lowest ebb.
He also linked the emerging trend of frustrations to unresolved domestic issues and debts from shylock loans, owing to hard economic times.
“I can confidently say that in Nyeri County we are seeing rising cases of mental illnesses. The mental wellbeing of our people is a bit shaky. I think there are so many frustrations, most of them generated from the family. The family set up is not very strong here. There are so many issues at the family level,” he told KNA on the sidelines of a Multi-agency committee meeting on drug control.
“Our people really need to invest more in building stronger family ties. Most of the issues are really mental frustrations in life, which I am sure are not about professional counselling but fostering stronger family ties. I think if we can address pertinent family issues, I am sure there are so many other diseases that we can really avoid,” he said.
Mwiwawi also blamed the proliferation of cheap liquor and prescribed drugs as among practices exacerbating the issue of mental health challenges in Nyeri.
The county commissioner has therefore called for combined efforts from all and sundry in tackling the problem, which he said was driving many people into committing suicide.
He disclosed that within the last 10 months alone, close to 100 people have lost their lives through suicide with men bearing the brunt.
“Our people are heavily indebted and when they cannot repay the loans they run struggling businesses, even many of them turn to drugs to cope.
We realise that most of our people are getting into transactions which are quite binding but failing to fulfil the agreements they came up with such as shylocking.
This then triggers suicidal tendencies and worsens the spread of non-communicable diseases. These are some of the issues that are frustrating our people,” he pointed out.
In May this year, the county commissioner disclosed that Nyeri was recording one suicide case on a daily basis with majority of the victims being men.
He cited Kieni East, Kieni West and Mukurwe-ini as the worst hit areas and said his office had taken up the issue as a matter of urgency.
“Almost every day we are losing a human being by suicide. I have gone public telling men to visit my office. Men are walking into my office and explaining their sad stories. A man walks to my office and tells me he had even bought a rope with which to hang himself. It’s really sad,” said Mwiwawi during a Service Delivery meeting for Heads of Department on May 29.
The county commissioner has nevertheless hailed security agents and the local community leadership for being at the frontline in the war against proliferation of illicit brews and drugs in the area, saying the collaboration has helped in arresting suspects behind the dealings.
Mwiwawi stressed that while Nyeri cannot be classified as a red zone for drug and
substance abuse, efforts by law enforcements have yielded positive results, ensuring the community largely remains safe.
Mwiwawi, however, said much still needed to be done to flush out all those involved in such illegal businesses.
He noted that many suspects often return to the street shortly after arrests, calling on law enforcement officers to focus on building stronger evidence that can secure conviction and deter others from engaging in similar vices.
“One of our key milestones is the profiling of the notorious dealers, and we are developing mechanisms on how best to deal with them.
Many a time we take people to court, but we realise that within no time they are out. This is a gap we have realised that may be at the point of arrest; there are things that we need to do.
We need to build our evidence to make our cases stronger when we present these people to court so that it can easily act as a deterrent,” said Mwiwawi.
By Samuel Maina and Diana Odipo
