The County Government of Kirinyaga has kicked off vetting of all liquor outlets even as a crackdown on the sale and manufacture of illicit brews continues.
As of Monday evening, about 50 people among them police officers, have been arrested in the ongoing alcohol crackdown in the County.
Multi-agency team drawn from National and the County governments, seized over 1,000 liters of illicit liquor and close to Sh1 million in cash, money suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The money was recovered hidden in a manhole under the bed at Holiday Inn Pub in Kutus town, belonging to Josephine Karioko Muchira, who is also in police custody.
Karioko was found in possession of over 100 liters of illicit brew with fake Kenya Bureau of Standard (KEBS) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) stamps.
Kirinyaga County Commissioner, Hussein Allasow, who led the operation said the bar closure order issued by Governor Waiguru, has been enforced to allow for the vetting exercise.
Allasow asked bar owners and other stakeholders, to cooperate with the government to eradicate the sale of poisonous alcoholic drinks in the County.
“We have done an operation and I want to confirm that all bars are closed, except for a few who want to play cat and mouse games. Because of fear that there still could be poisonous drinks out there, the bars will remain closed until when the vetting exercise is complete,” he stressed.
He said all civil servants who operate liquor outlets have been identified and added they would not get licenses for their facilities.
The County Commissioner also put on notice all illegal brewers, saying that the law would catch up with them soon
“Ours is to make sure our people remain safe; we are also rolling out a process where we are going to look for illegal manufacturers. We have arrested many and our officers are doing everything possible, to make sure they are brought to book,” he said.
The vetting exercise kicked off with a physical inspection of bars by a Multi-agency team, where owners of liquor outlets are required to produce licenses for 2023 and approved applications for 2024.
Other stringent conditions set out by the Multi-agency team for re-opening of bars include compliance with public health regulations, bars should not be near schools and places of worship. The outlets should also not have previous cases of non-compliance with liquor licensing regulations.
Apart from the National Government Administration, County Government officials and the police, the Multi-agency team also includes Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA), officials among others.
County Executive Committee Member for Sports, Culture and Social Services, Dennis Muciimi, said the verification process, will be done within the shortest time possible, to allow legitimate traders to resume business.
“These Committees will conduct physical verification of all alcoholic outlets to determine whether an establishment meets the criteria of licenses as stipulated in Kirinyaga County Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2014,” he said.
Muciimi assured bar owners that the exercise will be done in an open and transparent manner, to ensure those who have complied with liquor licensing regulations, are allowed to re-open.
“We urge all alcoholic outlet owners to be physically present in their respective premises to pave the way for verification exercise,” he added.
The CEC said the vetting team will visit all alcoholic drinks outlets in their respective wards, to undertake the exercise.
He said bar owners who fail to show- up for the exercise will be deemed to have exited from the business.
By Mutai Kipngetich
