Early in 2014, the sleepy township of Mumias was jolted into chaos when a young man went berserk and stormed a famous chemist accusing the attendants of selling him fake family planning tablets. The man, Weston Wesonga, said the wife had been on family planning when she got pregnant with their third born child, a son. The bitter Wesonga wanted to confront the man or woman who shortchanged them, but luckily he could not find the presumed culprit. He was told that his wife had ‘strong’ hormones that overpowered the drugs and was advised to use a different drug. His wife revealed that a visit to a private clinic proved how much ‘they had been taken for a ride.’ “The recommended one by the government never worked and I had to switch to the one recommended and distributed by a leading NGO which worked,” she says. But Mr Wycliffe Onkendi, a Ministry of Health official, says that the family planning method recommended by the government is equally effective on condition that one follows instructions. “It must be used within the stipulated timelines, not a day or a month later. Some forgo the drug for a month and take them the following month and that renders them ineffective. The side effect is that when used for long, sometimes it can take a woman several years before she can be pregnant even after stopping the use of the drugs,” he explains. Do you have something to add to this story? Comment here.