After 10 years of sobriety, Micheal Kayondo aka Kintu the Rapper has said that drug and alcohol abusers are often people struggling with underlying personal problems that need attention rather than stigma.
He said this during an interview with The Fatboy Show host Sarah Apollo. He revealed that after spending 8 years of having an alcohol and drug addiction, he understands that the addiction is not done by self will.
“The first thing people should understand is that alcoholism is not a choice. It's a disease that anyone out there can pick. So people might think that a person wakes up and chooses to go and drink but that's not it, because it actually hurts the addict more. It hurts the person more together with their family because the person can’t see a way out of it,” Kintu said.
Asked about how it affected him and his family, he responded, “Everyday, I would wake up and assure myself that that day was the last time I was taking alcohol because I wanted to go back to school, complete my studies and talk to people in a sober state. But those are days I would even end up drinking more.”
Kayondo said that he was exposed to alcohol addiction as a child that grew up watching his mother drink heavily despite his efforts in begging her to stop the habit. At 18 years during his high school, the rapper says he got into drinking partly due to the influence of his peers, mother and the late singer Tupac Shakur who would rap about weed and alcohol in his songs.
Having had a shy character, he recalls alcohol as something that would give him confidence to speak more openly among people, tell jokes and make girls laugh which he couldn’t do while sober.
However, after a year of excessive alcohol consumption, his life started to fall apart. Kayondo dropped out of school and for years struggled to quit drinking in vain, getting himself into many situations that almost took his life.
“Many times I wanted to change my life so badly. But on those days when I would make the decision not to drink, that is when I would drink uncontrollably. Those are the days I would lose my phone, shoes, and even get knocked by cars. There’s one day I almost drowned in a pool because I cannot swim. So hadn't somebody jumped in to save my life, I’d be dead,” he recounted.
Making the final decision to quit alcohol he says was not by his power, but by the grace of God. “It's really not about will power because the days I woke up and said I wouldn’t drink were the ones I drank most. So I believe it’s something to do with God’s grace and the prayers that helped save my life and to quit drinking and abusing drugs.”
After becoming sober, Sarah asked Kayondo whether he now gets along with women as a sober person. He replied that he is now able to communicate with ease, talk to women and that he was even able to locate his missing rib.
“I'm able to talk to them though at times I get anxious like anybody else. In 2020, I got someone and now I am a married man,” he revealed.
The rapper confirmed that he will be celebrating 10 years of being sober on March 26th next month. He is now pursuing a Diploma in Drug Addiction Counseling and conducts outreach programs in ghetto areas to preach the message of sobriety while helping those struggling with drug abuse and addiction to recover.
He is now happy to get testimonies of those he has helped recover and says that he is overjoyed to see those he counsels transition from addiction to recovery.
Still as a rapper inspired by Tupac, he says that he connects with the singer’s positive and encouraging songs and steers clear from those about drugs and alcohol.
Kayondo says he has released about 4 songs and has 30 more in stock that he looks forward to putting out soon.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, Sarah and Lesham every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
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