Alarm over rising cases of suicide among men in Taita Taveta

Concern grows over rising suicides among men in Taita Taveta. [Courtesy]

At least two men commit suicide every week in Taita Taveta, according to National Government Administration Officials (NGAO) and local human rights activists.

Wundanyi Assistant County Commissioner Halima Hassan attributed the trend to poverty, unemployment, and breakdown in marriages, including denial of conjugal rights and domestic violence.

Other factors linked with the men’s rising deaths include alcohol and drug abuse, while others blame it on retrogressive beliefs in superstition. Ms Hassan said men aged between 25 and 70 years are most affected.

“We have registered 20,000 widows whose husbands died by suicide. That is why we have started forums to sensitise them to stop killing themselves, leaving their family to suffer,” Ms Hassan said in Wundanyi yesterday.

Valid Kirighaa, an elder in Wundanyi town, claimed that women are responsible for most of their husbands' deaths in the region.

“Women are denying husbands their conjugal rights and food. They have also ganged up with their children to harass and butter up their husbands, especially when they are drunk, besides kicking them out of their homes,” he told the meeting.

As a result of them being denied their conjugal rights, men resort to incestuous acts with their daughters to satisfy their sexual needs, Kirigha told the meeting.

Another elderly man, Mwamburi Mwazala, claimed his son recently committed suicide and blamed the incident on sorcery and witchcraft.

“Joblessness among the youth also remains a major challenge leading to such deaths,” he told the meeting.

But one of the men’s officials, Sammy Mghanga, noted the deaths have got nothing to do with poverty as alleged. The official linked the deaths to economic stress and domestic violence.

Mghanga cited Mbale, Mghambonyi, Wundanyi, Mgange, Mwanda, and Kishushe as the highest areas hit by men’s suicide cases. “We have gone round Taita Sub County, and the areas I have mentioned are the worst hit by suicide cases, which have nothing to do with poverty as alleged by certain quarters," the official told The Standard yesterday.

A gubernatorial candidate, Henderson Mtalaki, said he has started a programme to empower men and youths. He said one of the programmes he has initiated is to ensure men are involved in income-generating projects and youth initiatives like sports tournaments to not only make the vulnerable groups busy but also help improve their socio-economic status.

“I have started programmes to ensure that men are engaged in income-generating programmes to uplift their family’s socio-economic status to avert suicides,” Mtalaki told the Wundanyi Droughts group yesterday.

A former Wundanyi chief who is also the chairperson of the Taita-Taveta Widows Movement, Constance Ndighila, confirmed that there are over 20,000 registered widows in the region, and the number is increasing by the day.

She told the meeting that registration was still going on and urged widows to come out and be recognised.

“Registration of widows is still going on, and we are calling upon widows to come out to stand and be counted,” stated Ms Ndighila, who is also a widow.

Last month, NGAO hosted a gender conference for men amid rising cases of suicides among productive youths in the region.

The consultative meeting in Wundanyi town was purely for men and was convened to help find out the reasons why men are committing suicides, leading to the high rate of widows in the region.

At the same time, the meeting was convened to find out why local men have formed a habit of engaging in incestuous acts, defilement, sodomy and homosexuality in the region.

It also emerged that men are suffering at home in silence and do not speak out about their challenges due to humiliation and stigmatisation.

Youth and Sports County Executive Shadrack Mutungi said there is a need for locals to open up about issues affecting them instead of making rash decisions.

Some global research has found that the high rate of people who died by suicide may have had an undiagnosed case of autism.

Study authors urge the importance of developing more efficient ways to diagnose all forms of autism as early as possible. They also recommend the development of tailored suicide-prevention services for autistics.