From students to adults: The alarming suicide trends

When schools reopened on January 4, parents flocked supermarkets, bookshops and uniform distributor shops to stock up for their children.

Fredrick Mulambe’s family was looking forward to seeing him finish his high school studies at St George’s Secondary School in Kilifi County.

On January 5, the 20-year-old student and his father left their Kilifi home for Mombasa, where they were to do some shopping.

Fredrick was to get uniform, books and other supplies before reporting back to school. But when it was time to leave for school, he complained that he did not have enough supplies to take him through the school term. He went back home.

He grabbed a rope and hanged himself on a tree near their home. On the same day, but 607 kilometres away, Faith Wambui, a Form Two student, was set to report back to St Anne’s Kiriari Secondary School.

Faith’s parents had already paid fees and done shopping for supplies to last her the entire term.
She went into the bathroom at her parents’ home in Kiang’ondu village, Embu County, to freshen up, after which her parents were to escort her back to school.

But Faith took her own life a few minutes later.

Committed suicide

The incident almost turned into a double tragedy as Faith’s mother nearly hanged herself after discovering her daughter’s body.

Police investigations are still going on as nobody is able to point out any trouble that Faith was going through. There was no stress in her relationship with family or friends, and she did not leave a suicide note.

Two other students – in Nyamira and Imenti – have committed suicide in the past two weeks.
The four learners are part of a worrying trend in Kenya.

Ms Mabel Iganjo of Befrienders Kenya, a not-for-profit outfit that deals with suicide prevention, told the Nation that the organisation has, since March last year, recorded a sharp increase in appeals from depression sufferers between the ages of 14 and 18.

Before March 2020, when Kenya first implemented partial economic lockdown measures, Befrienders Kenya recorded an average of 500 calls and messages monthly from depressed Kenyans.

Back then, most callers were depressed due to issues such as low self-esteem, relationship troubles and gambling.

Today, Befrienders receives an average of 600 to 700 calls for help monthly. Since coronavirus hit Kenya, most callers lament about job losses and economic hardships driving them into depression and giving them suicidal thoughts.

Suicidal thoughts

"The requests came in the form of calls, texts and emails and are mainly from persons having suicidal thoughts. Those who have attempted suicide also reach out, but cautiously, because they know it is a crime," she said.

A big number of those who sought help were students who were anxious about their school calendar and whether they will ever return to school, people who lost their jobs during the pandemic, and those who have been searching for jobs without success even before March, 2020.

On January 18 at around 4pm, an officer living at the RDU AP line in Embakasi, Nairobi, heard some distress noises from his neighbour's house.

Concerned by the source of the sound, the officer immediately went out to check what was happening and found the door to his colleague's house locked from the inside. He peeped through the keyhole and saw 42-year-old Corporal Jonathan Korir Kipkemoi lying in a pool of blood and groaning in pain. The officer had stabbed himself in the neck.

A sharp, blood-stained kitchen knife lay beside him. He died before neighbours could break into the house and rush him to hospital. There was no suicide note, as is in many cases.

But the signs of self-harm were there months before the police officer took his own life.
Neighbours and colleagues told investigators that Corporal Kipkemboi had many times acted as though something was not right.

Nobody did much to help Corporal Kipkemboi get help.

And he was not alone.

Sad picture

Thousands of Kenyans smile around friends, family and colleagues to mask depression, which is fast becoming a silent killer in many homes.

At least 40 Kenyans have committed suicide in the past two months.

Police records indicate that crime at home has generally been on the rise since the government restricted movement in and out of homes owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the number of lives lost to suicide paints a sad picture.

The fatalities have provoked expert debates on whether Kenya’s structures – social and legal – are alive to the nature of depression and its effects, including suicide.

In Kenya, suicide is considered a crime under section 36 of the penal code and anyone found guilty of attempting to take their life can be jailed for two years, or fined, or both.

The criminalisation of suicide has always drawn criticism from mental health experts, who feel that the move creates stigma and discourages victims of depression.

In turn depression victims remain isolated, until, in some cases, it is too late.

Depression and suicide

“The Kenyan Parliament should do the right thing by repealing section 226 of the archaic Penal Code and by so doing, decriminalise suicide attempts in Kenya… criminalisation of suicide has made it difficult for families to get help for family members attempting suicide,” said Dr Frederick Murunga Wekesa, a researcher at the African Population and Health Research Centre.

The epidemiologist also warned that the effects of Covid-19 in Kenya are likely to spiral into more depression and suicide cases, an indication that tough times are looming for many families.

“In the longer term, we should expect effects from the Covid-19 pandemic to lead to cases of mental illnesses and suicides,” noted Dr Wekesa.

Several police reports seen by the Nation indicate that many Kenyans are severely depressed and living on the edge, as some of the suicide incidents documented were sparked by relatively minor events.

For seven months, 30-year-old John Muchane Wairimu was unable to pay rent for the one-bedroomed house he lived in.

Last Thursday, at around 1:15pm residents in Gathanji village in Githunguri, Kiambu County, found Mr Muchane’s body hanging just outside the one-bedroomed unit.

Police were called in to investigate the incident. While no suicide note was found, police found a letter from Mr Muchane’s landlord ordering him to vacate the house following the failure to pay rent.

Other vulnerable people

For 26-year-old Dickson Kipkoech Kogo, the trigger was defaulting on repayments for a loans from a microfinance institution and shylocks, which had grown to more than Sh100,000. Mr Kogo had started receiving calls to repay the debts, which, his family believe, led him to commit suicide.

Dr Wekesa, however, notes that people who have made prior suicide attempts are more predisposed to the act. It is the single most important risk factor for suicide, but he notes that adolescents, the youth and elderly people are more vulnerable to suicide compared to other groups.

Other vulnerable people are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community.

“In general, depression is the greatest risk factor to suicide, but global statistics indicate that suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year-olds.

This is due to low self-esteem arising from bullying, poor performance in school and feelings of not belonging to family and community.

Dr Wekesa noted that generally, the youth and elderly are the most likely to commit suicide, but that minority groups harshly targeted by the society like the LGBTI are among the most likely to take their own lives.

Among elderly people, suicide is triggered by feelings of loneliness, say if a person is neglected by close family members or peers.

Suicide is also triggered by pain from chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis and also disillusionment with the meaning of life.

To alleviate suicide at the family level, Dr Wekesa calls for enhanced awareness of tell-tale signs for mental health problems, more importantly, depression, and seeking professional help when classical depression symptoms are noticed among family members.

“Family support to individuals undergoing difficult emotional challenges also offers them a safety net when the thoughts occur,” the epidemiologist added.

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