Following the mapping of Bomet County as one of the areas with rampant sale and consumption of illegal brews, stakeholders in the sector have declared renewed war against illicit brews.
In a meeting chaired by Bomet County Commissioner Dr. Ahmed Omar, the stakeholders agreed that there was presence of second generation brews and all sorts of outlawed traditional brews including busaa and chang’aa.
Omar said the sale and brewing of traditional brews was so rampant that some were located barely 100 meters from police stations, adding that there were loopholes in the war against illicit brews following allegations of selective arrests of perpetrators while some were released without prosecution.
Bomet Central Deputy County Commissioner Victor Kisachi said Morit Village and Silibwet trading Centre was marked as the major hotspots in the county where notorious dealers in illegal brews conducted the illegal trade.
Kisachi said some rogue police offices were aiding the dealers following allegations of bribery to offer protection from the law.
Assistant County Director of Prosecutions Solomon Njau said there was a need to arrest suppliers of second generation brews instead of going for retail traders who he said were usually arrested with about 10 bottles while chang’aa dealers were brought in with five or 10 liters.
Njau said the recent court ruling on testing of the contents of chang’aa delayed prosecution of offenders while clarifying that only a sample of the brews was to be taken to Government Chemist.
He urged police arresting officer to properly draft the charge sheets in order to enable his office properly aid the courts in convicting offenders.
He said there was provisions in the law that allows diversion of cases committed by first time offenders citing example of business people arrested for operating without licenses.
“If such a trader shows remorse and makes a commitment that he would obtain the documents, then we should give him time to comply with the law,” he said.
Evans Makori, a Kenya Bureau of Standards officer said there was standards for chang’aa that have to be met for purposes of issuance of operating licenses.
Makori said KEBS served to protect consumers from substandard products saying there was a consumer complaint procedure that allowed them to conduct investigations into a suspicious product in the market.
He added that there were surveillance officers and quality assurance officers based in local manufacturing companies to ensure that products released into the market were up to specified standards.
The officer, however, said unscrupulous business people have circumvented the law by using fake quality assurance stickers saying such products were to be treated as counterfeit.
Kenya Revenue Authority Officer Joyce Munene said the KRA ensured that there was a level playing ground for businesses, that the right product got to consumers and that taxes were collected.
Munene however, said alcoholic brands such as Spark, Moon Ice, Steam Vodka, Red Ice, Star Vodka and Red horse were some of the outlawed second generation brews prevalent in south Rift Valley that should be stumped out.
By Kipngeno Korir
