Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said the government will implement stringent measures to wipe out illicit brew and narcotics from next week.
Firing a warning to those involved in the processing and selling of illicit brew, he said it would not be business as usual promising a tougher response to effectively deal with the vice.
He said the Ruto Administration is working on tougher interventions that will wholly be implemented collectively by respective government agencies.
“I held a meeting this week with top Government officials and senior security officers and we have agreed on these measures which will be rolled out from next week,” he said.
Gachagua was speaking on Saturday at Kapserton SDA Church in Mosop Constituency, Nandi County.
“We are determined to make our country safe from these killer drinks. We will make sure the manufacturers of these drinks will leave this country for good. We cannot allow Kenyans to be sold poison in the guise of alcoholic drinks,” he added.
On Monday, Gachagua will hold an Alcohol and Drug Abuse Conference in Mombasa to intensify the war against the menace in the coastal region.
The DP has already held similar meetings in Nyeri, Chuka and Nakuru.
His statement is a reiteration of that of February 17, when he said the sale of illicit alcohol and drugs must be stopped by all means.
He spoke during the burial of 17 people who died after consuming illicit brew in Kangai village, Kirinyaga county.
“We have lost fathers, mothers, grandmothers, sons and daughters in the name of business. It is a very painful moment, especially for families who have lost loved ones. This cannot continue,” he said.
“It cannot be business as usual. These senseless deaths in the entire country must stop.”
Gachagua called on all leaders to support the measures.
The country is still reeling from the loss of at least 17 people in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, who died after imbibing illicit brew at a local bar.
Six of the victims died at home while the rest succumbed in hospitals. At least four others lost sight.
Authorities in the area said ethanol, a major industrial chemical, is a key intoxicating ingredient used to lace alcoholic drinks such as beer and distilled spirits giving them the lethal intoxicating capability.
A police insider said the February 6 tragic incident at Kangai village resulted from an illicit brew exhibit that had been sold by rogue officers at a local police station to a bar owner who then sold it to the victims.
Angry residents of the village descended on the bar at dawn the following day and destroyed crates of beer, tables and other property before setting the establishment ablaze.
