How muguka is turning Coast men into zombies

Inside the Mombasa Women Empowerment for Mental Health Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in Miritini, tales of heartbreak and struggle echo.

Men, recovering from the grip of muguka, a potent stimulant, recount lives left in disarray, marriages shattered by the substance now under scrutiny by Governor Abdulswamad Nassir’s administration that recently began implementing restrictions on the sale and use of the stimulant.

Amina Abdalla Mohamed, the centre’s founder, shares the harrowing reality. Many patients, surviving on diapers to manage semen leakage, bear witness to the substance’s prolonged use.

 “As for women empowerment, what we have seen here about Muguka is devastating.  Eighty per cent of the patients we rescue are here because of muguka she says, her voice tinged with sorrow. “Some suffer so much they need diapers.”

Hussein, not his real name, once ran a thriving wholesale shop. Muguka addiction saw his world unravel.

“I used to get Sh1,500 daily, but most went to muguka.  I would take Sh700 to my family. The rest would go to muguka…the euphoria was fleeting, leaving me penniless by morning, begging my wife for money. I would always be penniless and turn to my wife again requesting for something small out of the Sh700 so that at least I can have breakfast. And my wife would be shocked.”

Marital discord

His addiction led to a collapse in his masculinity, sparking marital discord and eventual separation.

“We ended up separating. She told me she can only come back to me if I stop chewing muguka. My children are now with my brother. My family is broken. I support the ban on muguka to spare others my fate and I have lots of regrets,” he explains, noting he has done worse things that are embarrassing.

Dr Janbibi Yusuf, a psychiatrist at the facility, explains muguka’s severe mental health impacts.

“Consumption leads to psychosis, disrupting thoughts and perceptions. Patients lose self-awareness, sometimes soiling themselves, needing diapers. Sometimes patients fail even to differentiate between them being in the toilet or elsewhere and defecate on themselves. As a matter of fact, we have some of the addicts here who are on diapers,” she explains, noting that low sperm count is one of the challenges that addicts of the stimulants grapple with.

Banned substances

The chemical compounds, cathine and cathinone, are potent narcotics. “Apparently, they are actually scheduled as narcotic drugs. They are banned. So the compounds are recognised as banned substances by the narcotic acts of Kenya. However, the plant itself is still very much legal,” says Dr Yusuf.

Being cheaply available, the substance’s impact in the society has been widespread and destructive.

Both muguka and miraa, chemically stimulants, grant temporary euphoria but degrade the brain.

“It causes psychological dependency, when the user is consuming they feel hyper and jovial but as you continue it keeps affecting your brain slowly. It is highly addictive. Addicts waste hours, unable to function without it. Most patients can chew muguka for up to six hours without noticing that they are wasting productive hours during the day” Dr Yusuf notes.

Lack of sleep

The stimulant’s allure transitions users to other drugs, seeking respite from sleepless nights. Due to lack of sleep, the psychiatrist explains, addicts will look for other drugs like Rohypnol also known as bugizi, a type of Benzodiazepines, or “benzos” or “downers”, which are used to treat conditions such as anxiety, insomnia, and seizures.

The consequences extend beyond the mind. Mood swings, from manic joy to deep depression, are common.

“Sometimes the user can be overly jovial, talkative, they believe they have extraordinary energy or maybe they are prophets of sorts…but again it can cause depression, meaning the hyper mood can decline. This causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest,” Yusuf further explains.

Physical health deteriorates—high blood pressure, heart rate spikes, and stomach issues. “The effects creep in unnoticed,” warns Dr Yusuf. This insidious decline often culminates in broken families, wasted lives, and enduring regret.

She says most of the patients brought at the facility suffer mental health challenges and lack self-awareness and as a result, a number of them engage in random fights.

“We have a history of patients here who were once family men. They started consuming muguka slowly on weekends before graduating to twice a week and finally daily. Some of them would consume it for the whole day. This being a stimulant, it denies people sleep and as a result, it automatically becomes a gateway to other drugs,” she says.