My Life as an Alcoholic: Chief Justice David Maraga Opens Up About His Dark Past

Chief Justice David Maraga has opened up about his dark past and how alcoholism almost messed up his life and career.

Maraga who spoke during the 37th Catholic University of East Africa graduation ceremony, says he would not be the person he is today had he not resolved to ditch drinking.

The 67-year-old is now a staunch Seventh Day Adventist and never shies to mention that he is always guided by the fear of God in his work. Here's the Chief Justice's full speech during the ceremony.

"Let me first tell you a little about my life’s story, and from it you will no doubt see how amazing God’s grace will always be. Having been born into a rather poor family in Nyamira, I got to wear my first pair of shoes when I was admitted to Secondary School, and that was only because it was compulsory. 

Worse still, I got to wear my first pair of shorts only after circumcision, at the age of 10. It is perhaps a good thing that those were not the days of today’s pervasive selfies and paparazzi. Otherwise I wonder what pictures of the Chief Justice as a young man would be circulating in the social media today. There is one I took with my first car, a Volkswagen beetle which looks interesting. Perhaps I should have it tweeted and I see the reaction. Although my parents were not Christians, I was baptized and joined the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1965 while in primary school, thanks mainly to the great influence of SDA in the area. 

 However, I got into bad company in Secondary School and slipped in the spiritual sense. While in that bad company, I drunk hard and, except for providing for the bare necessities. I ignored my family and literally mark-timed for about 20 years. I did not bother to further my professional career. But all that time the spirit of God kept prodding me to return to Church. When I eventually returned, God pointed me to a path of unwavering purpose that has brought me to where I am today. It is after I discovered my purpose in life that I realised I needed to do a masters degree and I went to class after 34 years. 

With this new path, some of my friends started mockingly calling me pastor because I refused to buy them alcohol. In the Seventh-day faith, drinking or giving others alcohol is a sin. I found that I could not continue keeping their company and still be a Christian. I started organizing my life. Other than a small piece of land I had bought in Nakuru which is my rural home, and changing cars, I made little investment. After I crossed the floor as parliamentarians say, I realised that I could make some minor investments with the same amount of income instead of drinking. After the change, as a private legal practitioner, I got more and better clients. God blessed the work of my hands and as my involvement with communities increased, so did my growth professionally and materially.

When I joined the Judiciary in 2003, I in no time earned respect from my colleagues because of my Christian principles. Let me not bore you with the story of my life. But allow me to say this. I am sure I would not have been appointed Judge, leave alone being the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya today, had I not eventually found my purpose in life and pursued it relentlessly. And in pursuing this purpose, the principle ingredient was ensuring that I was in the service of God, my family and my community in equal measure. In a nutshell, my brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you but as for me, I say this: it is great to be a Christian."