Kenyans going to Uganda for a drink

Kenyans at Malaba border are drinking their beer in Uganda to escape the long arm of the law of the new Alcoholic Drinks Control Act.

More than 70 bars on the Kenyan side remain closed until 5pm, but those on the Ugandan side are usually packed with Kenyans all day.

Kenyans said they drink in Malaba, Uganda, because even local brews like chang’aa and busaa are legalised in Uganda.

“Police officers just watch as we take chang’aa or busaa from local bars that sell from morning up to 11pm without interfering with people, unlike in Kenya where people are always on the run avoiding arrest by police officers,” Mr Joseph Oroni said.

The Nation learnt that official drinking hours of local brew is supposed to be from noon. But those selling always flout the rules in order to get quick money.

Sellers have early patrons, especially truck drivers who normally go there to pass time. The drivers have free time as they wait for their trucks to be cleared either from Kenyan or Ugandan side before proceeding with their journey.

Food is in plenty at every bar in Malaba, Uganda, and customers eat first and drink later to avoid drinking on an empty stomach.

“Ugandans believe that one must eat food first before taking beer,” Mr Moses Mukiibi said, adding that apart from ready-made food, butcheries boil or roast meat on order.

Mr Mukiibi said that most Kenyans prefer taking local brew in Uganda because some of them have formed groups where members pay only Sh60 a day equivalent to USh1,200 to drink from a pot using straws.

Bar owners at the Kenya-Uganda border said introduction of the control law had cost them heavily and some might close business altogether.

“We have been sacking some bar maids because we are not making any profit following the introduction of the law. Our customers now go to Uganda where there is freedom,” bar owner Joseph Kimani said.

Business was booming before the new law, especially with truck drivers along the Malaba-Bungoma highway. “But things have changed because bar owners in Uganda are now celebrating.

“People are regretting why they voted for the new Constitution because we did not know that it would turn against us in the end,” Mr Adungosi said.

“People say that they would rather take beer in Malaba, Uganda, because they fear being arrested if found drinking in Kenya before the stipulated hours by the government following the new Alcoholic Drinks Control Act,” Mr James Ngugi said.

Kenyans said they cannot raise the heavy fines imposed for drinking outside the official time. They said that East Africa countries, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, should have a standardised time of bars.

”Everything within the three countries should be similar instead of each country operating differently and yet we claim to be one under a common market launched in July last year,” a clearing agent said.

Bar owners have been going to court seeking the Act’s dismissal. On Wednesday, they won Round Two of the battle after the High Court extended orders halting the implementation of the new law until January 24, when High Court judge Daniel Masinga is expected to make a ruling.