In an interview with Oga Obinna, Kimani Mbugua's father provided an update on his son, assuring that Kimani is now in a safe environment, closely monitored by family and neighbors.
According to his father, Kimani is currently residing in an apartment in Makongeni Phase 10, Thika. This decision was made to ensure he is close to family members who can watch over him.
“At the moment he's still out of balance. I had to make sure he's close to family members. The cousins are all located in the same facility. And even the neighbors there are taking care of him,” his father explained.
"This arrangement also includes safety measures to prevent self-harm, stating, “Also the place is safe because he's under key and lock. In case he hypes, he cannot harm himself and there's accessibility to him by the family members.”
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Despite the current challenges, Kimani's father fondly recalls his son's brighter days, highlighting his academic and professional successes.
“Kimani turned 28 this year. He’s the firstborn... He went to a village nursery school, then we took him to private schools where he did well. He secured a place at Njiiri school, then we relocated him to one of our church schools in Nairobi, Karura. He scooped an A,” he proudly shared.
Against his father's initial wishes, Kimani chose journalism over law, a decision that proved fruitful when influential media figures like Churchill and Larry Madowo noticed him.
His career was flourishing, and he was a supportive figure to his siblings and mother until his mental health began to decline.
Kimani Mbugua's journey into mental health issues began in February 2020. His father recalls the day it became clear something was seriously wrong.
During a board meeting, Kimani unexpectedly confessed to having been under the influence for days, a behavior his father had never witnessed before.
"All went well until February 2020. I was in Westlands. I have a Consultancy company in which he's also a director. He's the MD. We were in the boardroom he came and in the middle of the meeting he stood up and said dad for four days sijawahi isha ulevi. I was shocked because we are SDAs. It gave me a redflags. Kwa basement alikuwa ameacha gari na mlango hakufunga ," he said
This incident led to the discovery of his condition when his girlfriend reported his erratic behavior.
"When he went home around midnight the girlfriend called me and said Kimani alikuwa anaongea tu. She made me listen to what he was saying and it kept me worried until today," he said
Kimani’s condition worsened rapidly, leading to hospitalization where he was restrained and disoriented. His father described this moment as seeing "darkness during daytime."
"The girlfriend took him to hospital. I went nikapata amefungwa kamba mkono and anaongea tu. Ilinivunja moyo hadi wa leo. When he saw me he even called me by my real names. That is when i saw darkness during day time," he said.
Further investigations revealed that Kimani had been exposed to harmful substances at a birthday party, exacerbating his mental health issues.
"I followed up to know what had happened before the day I saw him. He had a bash. Ilikuwa birthday yake and it was big. the sister took his phone akapitia akaona picha alikuwa anaanguka akitapika na kuna wasichanna wanampiga. My daughter said aliona kwa glass yake kuna white substances zinaekwa. Na anaambiwa kunywa na anatapika na anaanguka. So I told my daughter if we could consolidate the phone but how it got lost we dont know .We wanted evidence that was there.
"He did a toxology and it was discovered there was Marijuana and other stuffs. I did my investigations and I found out most of his friends were on those things. So I concluded my son was spiked. And the effect, hard drugs," he narrated.
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