In Ndeiya Ward, Kiambu County, a group of women once took to the streets in one of Kenya’s most unusual demonstrations. They were protesting what they called a “bedroom crisis” caused by excessive consumption of cheap, illicit brews locally known as chang’aa and kumi kumi.

The women, many of them married or newlywed, claimed that their husbands had become too weak or completely incapable of performing in bed, and that the issue had led to broken marriages and a decline in new births within the community.

Carrying twigs, singing protest songs, and demanding government action, they pleaded with authorities to shut down all illegal drinking dens in the area.

The protest drew national attention around 2012, with local leaders promising to act against the brewers and raise awareness about the dangers of illicit alcohol. Media outlets captured the scene vividly dozens of angry women, some elderly, others young mothers, openly discussing topics rarely aired in public.

It became one of Kenya’s strangest yet most memorable community protests, highlighting how deeply the effects of alcohol abuse can ripple through homes and society even into the bedroom.