How Promising Young Journalist Kimani Mbugua Went Mad, Lost Everything After Drug Abuse

The name Kimani Mbugua, to many people more so on social media, is a sign of hope, good luck and resilience.

Kimani, just in the middle of his undergraduate at Moi University landed a gig at Nation FM and his career skyrocketed.

In 2016, just in his early 20s, he was promoted to being an Entertainment news reporter and producer at the Nation Media Group (NMG). During this time, he co-hosted various shows including the Trend alongside Larry Madowo.

He later joined Citizen TV where he broadcasted news across different parts of the country with different segments. To many people who wanted to venture into the Media industry, Kimani was the perfect example to look up to.

Two years after joining Citizen TV, things started going haywire as Kimani started struggling with mental illnesses.

Read: Citizen TV Journalist Kimani Mbugua Opens Up About Depression That Almost Took Away His Life

In his recent podcast, the Media personality recounts how things took a wrong turn to having his worst breakup ever, suffering from mental illnesses and losing everything he had built.

Kimani says he started smoking weed and thus got addicted. The addiction became so severe that he developed other psychotic illnesses and was later admitted to Mathari Mental Hospital. In 2020, he was admitted twice.

The media personality also narrates about his break up which he terms as brutal, made him a bitter and frustrated man. Thus, he explains the viral rant which made headlines after he decamped from the SDA Church to being an atheist.

SDA is not a Church, It's a Cult – Kimani Mbugua. Thank You Bro 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/v3m8QjVGv9

— Mgenge Noxium (@MgengeNoxium) March 1, 2020

He says the breakup was his fault as after getting hooked into drugs, he started cheating on his girlfriend while trying to find different women to fill the void he was left with.

“I felt unfulfilled. I wasn’t getting the satisfaction I wanted from the relationship and therefore started cheating. My then-girlfriend found out, it was explosive. I ended up in a situation when I was trying to mend relationships with two people. This led me to the worst break-up ever,” he narrated.

Read Also: Citizen TV Journalist Kimani Mbugua Assaulted By City Askaris As They Tried To Nab A Bodaboda Rider

The ex-Citizen TV reporter further says he tried moving on after the breakup when he met a new person and got engaged within months of their meeting. This too did not work out as he was still dealing with many other issues.

After losing his job at Citizen TV, Kimani was later employed by a renowned blog where he hosted a show on Youtube. He however ideally quit the job last year.

In his parting shot, Kimani advised Kenyans to stop using drugs and use his experience to make better decisions.

Mental health awareness is essential in addressing mental-related illnesses in society. Last year, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) unveiled 32 health facilities where residents within Nairobi county can access mental health care.

Read Also: Here are Facilities to Access Mental Health Care in Nairobi

The facilities offer services including psychotherapy and counseling, mental wellness clinic, psychiatry, school mental health, community mental health, child and adolescents’ mental health assessments as well as epilepsy clinic.

Some of the facilities are:

• All Level IV facilities including Mbagathi Hospital in Lang’ata, Mutuini Hospital in Dagoretti South, Mama Lucy Hospital in Embakasi West and Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Kamukunji.
• Level  II and III facilities in Embakasi East sub county including Mukuru kwa Njenga, Embakasi East and Soweto-Kayole health centres and Dandora II, Kariobangi North and Kasarani health centres in Kasarani subcounty.
• Lunga Lunga, Makadara and Jericho health centres in Makadara Sub-county
• Lang’ata, Kibera Amref, and Kibera DO health centres in Lang’ata sub-county.
• Mathare North
• For child and adolescents’ mental health, Ngara Child-Friendly Clinic is the only one offering mental health care services from Monday to Friday.
• In Westlands, there are Kangemi and Westlands health centres, Mji wa Huruma dispensary and Lower Kabete Health Centre.
• In Embakasi West there are Kayole II and Umoja health centres.

You can find more of Kimani’s podcast here:

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