• The DP said that he and his wife Pastor Dorcas have invested their energy in the fight against the drug, as they have also been victims of its negative impacts.
• “When we fight alcohol, it’s not politics. We are speaking while experiencing so much pain in the heart."
Image: DPCS
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has once again affirmed his dedicated fight against alcohol, pointing out that it has nothing to do with politics.
Speaking in an interview with Inooro TV on Sunday evening, the second in command stated that he and his wife Pastor Dorcas have invested their energy in the fight against the drug, as they have also been victims of its negative impacts.
He emotionally recounted the death of his late brother, Jackson Reriani Gachagua, who he alleged died of alcohol abuse.
“My brother Reriani was an alcoholic. I tried to talk to him and persuade him, ‘My brother, we’ve been left just the two of us. I beg you, please don’t leave me alone’ but he didn’t listen," Gachagua said.
Reriani was pronounced dead at Jamii Hospital in Karatina on September 24, 2022, after he fell sick at his home in Mathira.
In the interview, Gachagua shared that he last saw his elder brother alive when they visited him after he was sworn in as the deputy president.
“He (his brother) used to drink alcohol. I tried to get him treated in a hospital here in Karen, but he’d go back to alcohol,” he narrated.
“After we were sworn in, me as the deputy president, they came to my home here in Nairobi with other people. As they were going home, because I was very happy, I gave them each a small amount of money so that they would eat on their way home. The next time I saw him, he was in a casket because he went to drink.”
The deputy president said the death of his elder brother left him in a sad state, as he now lacks a sibling to talk with.
"Now, when I go home, I usually stare at the graves; there is no one to talk to because my sisters are already married. All my sisters are married. In Gachagua's entire home, I am the only one.
"For Reriani, we would still be with him; whenever I went home, I would get someone to talk with. Now I am just alone; I live with the police. I have no one from our family; I have nothing. It’s just the police. When I go home, I can only stare at the graves,” he said.
Gachagua also spoke about Pastor Dorcas’s brother, who is also an alcoholic, and pointed out that many other people are affected by alcoholism but are suffering in silence.
“When we fight this alcohol, it’s not politics. We are speaking while experiencing so much pain in the heart because we have seen what alcohol has done to us, our neighbours, and our friends,” he said.