Another tragic news story brings to the surface one of the great problems with which the heart of Kenya, that of the lower social strata, rural areas and the outskirts of urban centres, has to contend: alcoholism.
And it is not only a problem of liver, lucidity, and the possible domestic and other violence that abuse can cause, but also of death and permanent infirmity, when the scarcity of money to buy commercial alcohol drives many Kenyans to drink illegally produced, highly harmful, toxic, artisanal spirits.
Two days ago, the latest sensational case, ten members of the same family, in Kirinyaga County, north of Nairobi, found themselves, as often happens in those areas, in a club having a bit of a spree.
A drink between relatives ended very, very badly.

The bar, said to be owned by a wealthy local businessman, produces 'craft beer', which is nothing more than a variation on the theme of the fateful 'Chang'aa', a fermented brew of millet, field vegetable leaves, fruit peels and any other natural waste that may come within reach. But whereas once upon a time the alcoholic concoction was as deadly (for those who had it, for almost everyone it was a mat of mud) as a Slovenian schnapps or a vodka made from Uzbek potato peels, today we tend to mix the 'marc' with chemical compounds. When it's good, methanol and ethanol, and when it's even better, in modest quantities, which still means getting stoned. Because producers often exaggerate and the results are nefarious.
As in the case of the family in the village of Kangai. The first six started getting sick as soon as they got home: vomiting, convulsions to the point of death. Four others went blind almost instantly, taking their last breath in the night. The last one expired the next morning in hospital.
Enraged village residents went outside the bar that had served the poisoned Changa'a (which in Kikuyu dialect means 'kill me quickly') and set it on fire.
The police arrived when the bar had already been reduced to ashes and the compatriots of the deceased had already fled. The National Authority Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse (Nacada) stated a few months ago that almost 5 million people in Kenya abuse harmful and illegal substances, with artisanal drinks being the number one. And mafias proliferate.

The Ruto government, since its first months in office, has been trying to change the ancestral habits of rural communities (starting on the slopes of Mount Kenya, where it should be easier to get to, rather than in the slums of Nairobi, where Chang'aa is made from used battery acid, brake fluid from dirty rags, and some even say used tampons, all of which accelerate fermentation). Deputy Minister Rigathi Gachagua, who comes from the Kikuyu areas close to the one where the family massacre took place, and his wife, are among the most fervent detractors of the production of spirits that are passed off as traditional drinks (such as Muratina, which was originally derived from an African fruit similar to carob) but which in reality now have little that is natural.
Last summer, in the five counties surrounding the slopes of Mount Kenya, more than 6,000 premises dedicated to self-produced spirits were closed. A shot of Changa'a costs ten shillings at most, twenty times less than a beer and fifty less than a whisky. And it is much more addictive than an original spirit, so much so that those under its influence are practically like drug addicts and will do anything to obtain a litre of poison. Even prostitute themselves (and not just women) or clearly steal.
But 'kill me quick' almost always fulfils its promise and if it really can't kill, it reduces people like larvae, leaving them in a semi-conscious condition for most of the day, by the roadside or in some corner of a wall. Which, as the poet said, 'is a slightly worse death'.