The fight against illicit and toxic brew in the country appears to be yielding fruits, as Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua reports some remarkable progress.
According to the DP, the recent vetting of alcohol brewing factories in the country resulted in only 2 out of 56 qualifying to reopen.
Mr Gachagua, who has been at the forefront of the fight against illicit liquor, highlights this as a significant progress that the country should take pride in.
“We have vetted all alcohol brewing factories, and out of 56, only 2 have qualified—the ones we are going to allow to reopen,” Mr Gachagua stated.
The DP initiated the fight against illicit menace and drug substance abuse last year, 2023, and he has remained resolute in the operation.
He issued a stern warning to police officers, provincial administrators, including top security bosses and chiefs, who intend to impede the cause.
“For the last 10 years, people have been producing poison, labelling it alcohol, and selling it to our children. We were losing an entire generation,” decried the second in command.
Mr Gachagua made these remarks during a recent trip to Rwanda to represent President Ruto for the 30th commemoration of the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994.
Addressing Kenyans in Rwanda, DP Gachagua highlighted that Kenya’s primary challenge is alcohol and drug abuse.
He humorously stated that Kenyan youths, especially from the Mt Kenya region, where the heart of the fight lies, had not only become unproductive at work but also in marriages, leading to endless complaints from the region’s women.
“Before the President William Ruto-led government intervened against this menace, our youths were unproductive. They were sleeping in ditches, and their reproductive organs were dysfunctional,” the DP claimed amid laughter.
He insisted that the government’s decisive and firm action has started yielding results.
“As a government, we have become extremely stringent on these characters (illicit alcohol brewers). We have shut down all factories and distilleries,” he informed.
Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS), Prof Kithure Kindiki, directed the closure of all bars and alcohol-drinking joints near schools and residential areas across the country, a move that has faced criticism.
During his address to Kenyans in Rwanda, the DP recalled the recent deaths of over 20 people in Kirinyaga allegedly due to consuming poisonous liquor.
Mr Gachagua also expressed deep concern over a woman he later visited in Murang’a County, who admitted losing seven sons to alcohol.
The elderly mother, according to the DP, now remains with only a daughter.
He stated that the fight against illicit brew is now 80 per cent successful.
