Over the past four years, Kimani Mbugua, a former journalist at Citizen TV, has struggled with serious mental health issues.
His supporters have expressed distress over his social media actions, making the public concerned about his well-being.
In a recent update, his father assured Oga Obinna on May 14 that Kimani is currently living in a safe environment, closely watched over by his family and neighbors.
According to the father, Kimani’s mental health issues began in February 2020 when he noticed that something was seriously wrong.
“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
“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
“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.
Investigations revealed that Kimani had been exposed to harmful substances at a birthday party, which exacerbated 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.
SEE: Kenyans raise Sh420,000 for struggling Ex-Citizen TV anchor Kimani Mbugua
Kimani Mbugua’s academic profile
“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 shared.
Against the initial wishes of his father, Kimani opted for journalism over law.
This proved to be a wise choice as he gained recognition from prominent media figures such as Churchill and Larry Madowo.
Up until his mental health started to deteriorate, his career was booming and he was a pillar of support for his mother and siblings.
