The day I got really drunk and argued with my mother-in-law

We've all heard the phrase 'nimewacha pombe' but most of the time inakuwangwa kwa counter. 

However, there is always one personal experience or one experience from someone we know that makes us stop drinking alcohol completely.

We have also heard the saying 'pombe haina mwalimu'. Unfortunately, that was the case for Emmanuel*, who learnt his lesson the hard way after alcohol took control of his life.

'In this case, I can confidently say that it wasn’t me, it was the alcohol. Clearly, it was pombe,” he admits.

Before this incident, Emmanuel had a disagreement with his mother-in-law weeks earlier. The issue was left unresolved, but little did he know that it was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Later, at a family gathering where he was due to meet his in-laws, everything started off well. They enjoyed nyama choma together and afterwards, he and his brother-in-law decided to grab a drink. As the night progressed, he kept drinking, unaware that the unresolved conflict was about to resurface.

“After finishing the first bottle of whisky, I brought up the issue we had disagreed on,” Emmanuel recalls.

His wife and brother-in-law tried to calm him down, but things only escalated. Soon, he started verbally abusing his mother-in-law, using words that he now regrets and cannot even repeat.

Since he was completely drunk, Emmanuel doesn’t remember how he got to bed. When morning came, he was battling not only a terrible hangover, but also the heavy tension in the house. His wife was ignoring him, and his brother-in-law was sitting on the couch, clearly furious and waiting for him to wake up.

When Emmanuel was told what he had done the previous night, he was shocked because he couldn’t recall any of it. At that very moment, he realised he had a serious problem.

He spent most of the morning apologising to his mother-in-law and trying to repair the damage he had caused.

Although Emmanuel and his partner eventually reconciled and moved on, he made a firm decision never to drink alcohol again. He proudly says that he has been sober for three years.