Maxwell Muriithi: Secondary school teacher reveals how he lost Ksh7M to gambling addiction
By Wangari Njuguna, December 9, 2025It started with a small bet for fun. Years later, he is staring at a bank account wiped clean of Ksh7 million and a darkness he nearly cannot climb out of.
Maxwell Muriithi, a secondary school teacher, says he started gambling as a leisure game, but it gradually turned into an addiction that became hard for him to pull out of.
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He says he started gambling when in university, where he would spend all his money on it, leaving himself with no pennies even to buy food.
“All the money my parents gave me for upkeep, I would spend it on gaming and would have to craft some lies to get food from friends,” the teacher told K24 Digital.
“When I got employed, I gambled my entire salary and lied to my family that I had not been paid so that they could continue supporting me,” he added.
Like thousands of other people trapped in the gaming, Muriithi did not realise he was getting addicted to it and ended up spending a lot of money on it and got very few rewards for it.
“I took a loan of Ksh600,000 and blew it up in gaming, took another loan of Ksh1.3 million, which also went down the drain,” he remarks.
Borrow without repayment
Having exhausted his pay slip, he now turned to conning his friends and family members and giving empty promises, but never gave back their money.
“I took Kshh2.6 million from auntie, and I was supposed to buy a parcel of land for her, but I spent the money on gaming,” he states.
On several occasions, he tried to take his life due to the huge debts he had incurred and the strain it caused to his family.
“My family sold off nearly all the property to help repay the debts, but still couldn’t settle them all. Some people are still on my neck demanding their money, but others forfeited it,” Muriithi narrates.
“I have attempted suicide seven times, but every time I was rescued and my family decided to take me to a rehabilitation centre to help me fight the addiction.”
Gambling rehabilitation
Though still at the recovery stage, Muriithi says the rehabilitation has given him a new lease of life, and he is ready to put his life together.
“Also, I have volunteered to speak to the young people about gambling addiction so that they don’t find themselves in a mess as I did,” he told K24 Digital.
According to Charles Njugia, a therapist, gambling is one of the most addictive games among the youth, and a majority get trapped in it.
Njugia says like alcohol addiction, gambling also takes a toll on people, and it should be treated as a disease, and the patients should seek professional help.
“The patients need support to help them deal with addiction and introduce them to activities that will help them get back on track,” Njugia explains.
“Besides alcoholism, a majority of the youth are into gaming because they believe they can make quick money, but they end up losing themselves.”