Since the beginning of the year, more than 25 people in the Central region and surrounding areas have died, and many more have been hospitalized or blinded due to illicit alcohol. On Monday, four people died, and seven others were hospitalized after consuming toxic liquor in Kyuso Ward, Mwingi North, Kitui County.
One survivor recounted his ordeal, explaining that he and his friends bought the alcohol from a known vendor but suspected it might have been poisoned. The seven survivors, including the vendor, were rushed to the hospital after experiencing severe fever, stomachache, vomiting, and diarrhea from the brew.
They were treated at Mwingi Level 4 Hospital, while the bodies of the four deceased were taken to the hospital’s mortuary.
Earlier this year, another case in Kirinyaga County resulted in at least 20 deaths, over 10 temporary blindness cases, and several hospitalizations after consuming illicit alcohol. Seventeen people died in the first week, with five passing away at home and the rest in hospitals. Three others succumbed almost 10 days later, raising the death toll to 20.
Investigations revealed that the toxic liquor had been confiscated and stored at a local police station as evidence. Some officers allegedly sold it to a local businessman for Sh20,000.
Some of the toxic liquor was consumed at a bar in Kandongu village, where several drinkers suddenly developed complications, such as loss of sight, before six died on the spot. The symptoms, including blurred vision, were consistent with previous cases of ethanol poisoning, according to Kirinyaga’s Executive for Health, George Karoki.
Victims who lost their sight were given an antidote to ethanol poisoning, which restored their vision.
In their crackdown on illicit alcohol, drugs, and psychotropic substances, the police have arrested over 12,443 people and closed 9,269 non-compliant establishments across the country. In the Central region alone, there have been 4,484 raids. The government has also declared an all-out war on the producers, sellers, and enablers of toxic liquor.
