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 Milliam Murigi @millymur1

When Christine Kerubo Nyantika got married in 2013, she was happy to start a family with the love of her life.

Her husband, Charles Kiprotich Chepkwony, was what he had always hoped for in a husband— a God-fearing man, financially stable, and sober-minded.

However, two years into their marriage (2015), he changed for the worse.

He started drinking and eventually became an alcohol addict. Her efforts to stop him bore no fruits. The more she tried to control him the worst it became.

“We dated for one and a half years and throughout our dating period, he never tasted or took alcohol.

He was a born again Christian and a staunch member at African Inland Church.

He picked the drinking habit due to the influence of his friends,” she says.

As a beginner, he used to drink with moderation. Later he graduated to a heavy drinker.

It got to a point that he became violent when drunk, something that eventually cost him his job.

This left her to bear all the financial obligations to sustain the family.

“He was a banker and his drinking habit saw him fired. His drinking sprees got so bad that he would report to work drunk,” Kerubo reveals.

With no income to finance his drinking habit, things grew from worse to worst.

He even started demanding money from his wife and whenever she refused, he would turn violent and fight everyone.

Embarrassing situation 

At some point, to fund his addiction he sold household items such as the television, woofer, and other electronic items.

This did not end there as he graduated to selling household furniture.

“I realised that all was not well when he started urinating on himself. This was embarrassing and I decided to stop giving him money.

I also went to the extent of bribing bar attendants not to sell him alcohol.

However, this didn’t work because mainly, he used to take changaa, and those cheap plastic alcohols known as makali,” she says.

At this point, her family and friends advised her to leave him. But she could hear none of it as she hoped one day, he would change.

However, it got to a point when she almost gave up on him. But instead of leaving her matrimonial home, she decided to change her tactics.

“For three years that he turned to the bottle, I used to carry him home. Most of the time, I used to find him in the ditch.

It was so bad that he couldn’t walk when drunk. Sometimes I would find him unconscious,” Kerubo recalls sadly.

She remembered that her husband feared death so much that he couldn’t stand anything or any topic related to death.

With this in mind, she knew she would use death to frighten him, but she didn’t know how.

After thinking through the matter, she had an idea. One day, in 2018, she was called to pick him up and as usual, she went. 

He was unconscious. However, instead of taking him home, Kerubo took him to a morgue. 

She negotiated with the attendant to lay him on the ground in between corpses. Once the deal was done, she left.

Two hours later, her husband was awake. When he noticed where he was, he freaked out.

He started begging the attendant to let him go home since he was not dead.

“The attendant whipped him, telling him, if he was one of those bodies that refuse to be buried, he doesn’t care and would put him in the cold chambers.

This freaked my husband out. The attendant caned him for a while before letting him go,” Kerubo reveals.

Two hours with the dead

Kiprotich went straight home and never uttered a word. He took a long shower, then went to bed. “Since that day he stopped drinking.

He remained indoors for a whole week without stepping outside. Though I asked him on several occasions about his sudden change of behaviour, he never answered me,” she says.

It took him three weeks to reveal to her what happened to him. However, it took kerubo two years to reveal to him that she was behind the whole issue. 

However, knowing that his wife was the reason he spent two hours in the morgue came as a surprise to Kiprotich. But by that time he had already reformed, so he laughed it out. 

“If she didn’t do it, most probably I would be dead by now. The experience at the morgue was disturbing, but I thank God through it I managed to quit alcohol.

For long, I wondered how I ended up in the morgue. But after she opened up to me about everything, I am now at ease,” he says.

Kiprotich regrets the shame, embarrassment, disappointments and pain he caused to his family.

And to ensure that other families don’t go through such, he has been reaching out to those who are addicted to alcohol.

He has been sharing his story with other drunkards to show them it is possible to quit drinking and live a normal life.

“When I remember how I used to pee on myself, the many times my wife washed and changed my clothes after messing myself up, I  feel so bad.

It was like a torture , but she never complained. I thank God for her because were it not for her, I don’t know where I would be by now,” he says.

Kerubo’s advise to couples? “Never break your marriage if at one time it gave you happiness.

And if you love your partner and value him, no matter what comes your way, you will still find something to excite you.

Try as much as you can to help him change by all means, either by talking encouraging him if depressed. Things work out for the better eventually.”

She adds. “As much as you may be frustrated, see the positive side of things.

And if at one point you saw something good and felt happy seeing him/her, try as much as possible to reinstate that love back.”