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December is around the corner and to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans who are already salivating, this means only one thing, pombe (booze) galore, a time to get drunk without appearing odd, a time to really let rip and go wild.

It's the end of the year we have made it, with all the upheavals, and stresses and strikes, and student riots, and car-jacking, matatu (chaotic Kenyan mini-bus public transport) accidents - we survived another year. Sadly many Kenyans will end up having one for the road before they die

Right now millions of Kenyans countrywide are medicating themselves liberally with alcohol. The vast majority are young people many of whom will taste alcohol for the first time.

Even for the ones who do not like its taste or initial reaction to this drug, there will be no soft option like refusing, or indulging themselves with non-alcoholic beverages for the Kenyan society does not allow for this.The Kenyan society has made alcohol consumption a badge of honour, to be worn at any cost.

Young people will plunge heedlessly into the festivities with abandon imitating the adults who will as usual set the pace. This year too is different and Kenya Breweries Ltd. (KBL) has set the tone very well over the last few months with a campaign which barely stops short of accusing one of being unpatriotic if you fail to drink beer namely their flagship brand - Tusker.

The stage was set with a pool competition played in bars across the length and breath of Kenya. Entry they said was free - well you only had to submit two labels from their Pilsner beer brand.

The print and electronic media were full of advertisements and long infomercials detailing how the various teams were doing all reported like the sports section on television, using a well known TV and radio personality and role model, which has succeeded in making the whole circus look like a national event we should be all proud of.

Attractions like huge prize money, and the chance to be seen on TV or in the newspapers are all part of the subtle ploy to gloss over the truth and instead pass off beer drinking as a necessity in sporting and other social gatherings. This grand master plan of Kenya Breweries Ltd. includes getting bars accepted as an equal even better alternative to Kenyan's sitting rooms, social halls or the outdoors as the places to be.

While you are at it bring the kids too, there are bouncing castles, jungle bars and sand pits to keep them busy while they watch and learn from the adults how to really enjoy.

What if you cannot bring along your television set? In fact that would be downright awkward. Well the brewers working in cahoots with the bar owners have a solution to that too. Giant screen television sets placed at 'strategic' points throughout the establishment take care of that minor point.

And they are relentless leaving nothing to chance. Sensing that you might still find this setup odd, they inundate the print media with seductive hard to miss ads. "Catch the game and a beer" or "where the action is, in the bar"

Kenyans have got to a stage where they cannot socialise without drugging themselves silly with beer and other alcoholic beverages and who can blame them? The only constant, unrelenting education campaign they receive on alcohol, comes from the brewers and distillers who in an overwhelming landslide of advertisements pound into you how incomplete you life is without alcohol.

Currently, "as Kenya marks its 40th anniversary with pomp and nostalgia, Tusker is rewarding its drinkers with a unique festival aimed at celebrating out national heritage."

It goes on to say that the Tusker October Festival is "tailor-made to capture the many exciting moments with Tusker under the theme 'Sherehekea Ukenya Wetu'" literally celebrate our Kenyaness.

A full page colour ad with carefully selected photos of 'revelers' male and female all with bottles of beer and big grins blatantly conveys this missive. As usual there are also prizes so the more you drink, the more chances you have of winning. What they don't mention is that the majority of these prizes are branded Tusker T-shirts, caps, bottle openers and pens so that later when you are broke and hungover, you will still walk around 'branded' - a free, live billboard for Tusker.

Huge capital bold letters conclude "everyone's a winner in Kenya's first Tusker festival!" This ad is so convincing that it makes me also feel guilty and unpatriotic that I will not be drinking with everybody else as other 'normal' Kenyans celebrate 40 years of independence with Tusker.

Do you see what has been zapped into our psyche with close to 40 years brain-washing"? I can still remember the jingle I grew up with and sang long before I tasted my first beer. "We are all going to work so very hard, so we can build the nation, and after work we'll all relax with a big, big, glass of Tusker! Pam, pam!"

But I have learnt and by the Grace of God have lived to tell the story. For as usual this year not every one is going to be a winner. There are going to be many needless deaths. What I call 'useless' deaths. Parents as of this minute love your children well, for by the New Year many of you will bury them.

Many young people out there as you read this, are dead-men-walking. In other words they are alive only technically, for their time is up. They will die in mishaps that are all alcohol related. Car accidents, falls, fights, fires and the irony is that some will not even have been drinking. But they too will die due to someone else's drinking. Drunk PSV drivers.

But will Kenyan parents learn? No chance! They will simply shrug fatalistically and say ni shauri ya Mungu! (it is God's wish). The brewers will shake their heads sadly and say, not our fault; we did warn them that "over consumption of alcohol is harmful to your health." Everybody will forget until next year.

I thank God for my sobriety. I cannot force Kenyans to wake up to the dangers inherent in the drug beer. But what I can tell all parents, love your kids from this minute up until the end of December. Be close to them don't leave anything hurtful between you unresolved for you cannot apologise to the dead. This is your last chance because for many of you children right now unless you wake up, they are dead-men-walking!

PS: I will however continue to write and pray for I too was once a dead-man-walking!'

David Ogot is a freelance journalist/producer who has personal experience in alcoholism. He can be reached at goinghomedotcom@yahoo.com Website: www.goinghomekenya.org

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