Kirinyaga residents want President Kenyatta to intervene over return of illicit brews

Police officers carry away a drunk man after he disrupted Knut elections in Nyandarua. In Kirinyaga County residents have appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene following the return of illicit brews which they say are ruining the youth. PHOTO | JOHN GITHINJI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • They complained that some rogue beer merchants were secretly manufacturing the liquors and distributing them to local bars for sale.
  • The practice is most common in Kirinyaga Central, Ndia West and Mwea West sub-counties.
  • The residents said development in the region had been affected as villagers spent most of their time drinking instead of working in their farms.
  • Kirinyaga Central MP Gachoki Gitari admitted that the liquors had returned and called on the police to crack down on the manufacturers.

Residents from Kirinyaga County have decried the return of the toxic liquors in the region and have appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene before the situation gets worse.

The residents said the region is now awash with all kinds of illegal alcohol that is ruining the lives of the young generation and want the President, who is currently touring central Kenya, to address the issue.

They complained that some rogue beer merchants were secretly manufacturing the liquors and distributing them to local bars for sale.

The practice is most common in Kirinyaga Central, Ndia West and Mwea West sub-counties.

Those brewing and distributing the lethal liquors are doing so illegally as they have not been licensed to carry out the businesses by the county liquor licensing committee, the residents say.

They usually open their factories at night and manufacture the liquors which were declared unfit for human consumption.

"The rogue beer traders are manufacturing the liquors at night and taking them to bars where they are sold to the youth and villagers," said Mr Kamau Njoroge, a residents.

TRANSPORTED TO DRINKING DENS

Some of the liquors are also transported using motorcycles to drinking dens in villages and sold to the youth.

The residents said development in the region had been affected as villagers spent most of their time drinking instead of working in their farms.

The residents, who have been holding demonstrations against the liquor sellers, threatened to storm the factories and destroy the brews.

Speaking to the Nation in Kerugoya Town on Wednesday, the angry residents said the liquors were even being sold to students, some who had dropped out of school.

They appealed to the President to visit the county and declare his stand on the liquors which they said can easily wipe out the youth in the region.

Recently, Kirinyaga Central MP Gachoki Gitari admitted that the liquors had returned and called on the police to crack down on the manufacturers.

Mr Gitari said the consumption of the liquors and drug abuse was the order of the day in his constituency.

He vowed to embark on a serious fight against the liquors and drug abuse in the area.

Mr Gitari said eleven youth, including a Form Three student, had died in his constituency because of abusing drugs while others had been reduced to zombies.