Lost bout: Kenyan boxers’ struggle with depression and poverty

Former medal-winning boxers struggling with mental health issues with no help coming their way.

Nairobi, Kenya – Suleiman Wanjau Bilali, one of Kenya’s finest boxers with medals at international events, has been in and out of rehabilitation centres three times because of his alcohol addiction and depression since he was sacked from his job in 2012. Bilali is unkempt, desperate and cannot coordinate his mind well while speaking. He talks in sheng (Swahili-English slang) while chewing miraa – a stimulant, also known as khat. It takes a lot of probing and patience to be able to understand what he is saying. Wearing an old, black T-shirt and oversized khakis, Bilali looks pale and thin. You can smell the alcohol in his breath. His hands tremble as he sits down.