Boost for war on illicit brew as Treasury approves Sh400m

The National Treasury has approved Sh400 million for the fight against illicit brew as the government intensifies its war against illegal alcohol.

The money, which comes towards the end of the fiscal year, has been given to the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, which has been leading the fight since President Uhuru Kenyatta asked for a proactive approach to the battle last year.

The allocation is included in the Supplementary Budget set for debate in the National Assembly when the House resumes business Monday.

The allocation is included in the Sh600 million given to the ministry for regional and county administrative operations. The extra Sh200 million is to “facilitate operations at county administrative level”.

According to the Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, the money is used to cover expenses incurred by administration officers as they go about fishing out those who make illegal brew.

“We do not have a budget item for illicit brews and neither do we have one to fight illicit brewing. We are using the existing national administration structures to do that. The Sh600 million, which is budget for national administration, is the money meant for AIEs (Authority to Incur Expenses) being sent all the way down to assistant chiefs. We actually have a deficit of Sh1.1 billion on that budget item,” said Mr Kibicho on Sunday.

OPERATION LINDA BONI FOREST

The allocation is part of Sh9.4 billion given to the ministry in the Supplementary Budget expected to be passed by the House.

The budget is inclusive of Sh800 million for the ongoing Operation Linda Boni Forest, Sh500 million for the “securitisation of Kenya-Somalia border”, Sh377 million for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to facilitate probing and prosecution of corruption suspects.

It also includes Sh655 million for the employment of 1,200 registration clerks to issue identity cards before the next General Election.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery told MPs last week that the clerks would be employed on a one-year contract and will move across the country registering citizens above 18, who do not have identity cards.

When he appeared before the National Assembly Security Committee chaired by Tiaty MP Asman Kamama, Mr Nkaissery said the government was keen to help more Kenyans acquire the document.

The allocation for the recruitment is contained in the Sh94 billion supplementary budget for the ministry.

The CS told members of the committee that he had already asked chiefs to work with the clerks to ensure everyone who has reached 18 is registered for an identification card.

“Ask your people to apply for these jobs. I told my PS to ensure MPs and senators get their people to apply for these jobs. However, we will make sure they are competitively recruited,” said the CS at Parliament Buildings.