Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has ordered a fresh crackdown on substandard and unsafe alcoholic drinks, warning that beverages that fail to meet health and safety standards are putting young people at risk.
Kindiki said security agencies and regulatory bodies would work together to strengthen controls on the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic drinks that do not meet prescribed standards.
He announced that he had convened a meeting bringing together officials from the Ministry of Interior, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Anti-Counterfeit Authority and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), among other agencies.
“We cannot accept poisonous alcoholic drinks that are affecting the lives and health of our young people here in Mt Kenya and across the country,” Kindiki said.
The Deputy President spoke on Friday, September 25, while addressing residents of Chaka in Nyeri County during an inspection of development projects.
Agencies to tighten controls
Kindiki said the agencies would be required to strengthen measures to ensure alcoholic drinks reaching consumers comply with health, safety and quality requirements.
The meeting is expected to develop strategies for closing gaps that allow counterfeit, illicit or substandard alcoholic beverages to enter the market.
The move comes amid continuing concerns about alcohol abuse in Central Kenya, where the availability and consumption of illicit and low-cost alcoholic drinks have remained a challenge.
Kindiki said the government would focus on ensuring that beverages sold to the public meet the required standards and that agencies responsible for enforcement work together.
Central region records high alcohol-use levels
Data from the 2022 National Survey on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) highlights the scale of alcohol-related concerns in the region.
The survey recorded an alcohol-use-disorder prevalence of 9.9 per cent in the Central region, equivalent to about 337,723 people aged 15 to 65.
Central Kenya also recorded a 4.1 per cent prevalence of potable-spirit use, the highest rate among the regions covered by the survey.
Nationally, the survey estimated that about 1.36 million people aged 15 to 65 were addicted to alcohol.
The figures have continued to fuel calls for stronger measures to control the availability of unsafe and illicit alcoholic beverages.
Government promises stronger enforcement
Kindiki said the planned inter-agency approach would focus on preventing unsafe products from reaching consumers while strengthening enforcement across the alcohol supply chain.
Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira welcomed the initiative, saying alcohol abuse had affected communities in the region for decades.
“We thank you that you have called for a meeting on Monday to address this issue so we can eliminate counterfeit alcohol in the region and the country,” Wachira said.
The planned meeting will bring together the relevant security and regulatory agencies to review enforcement measures and identify gaps that allow counterfeit and substandard alcoholic drinks to reach the market.
The government is expected to outline further measures following the inter-agency meeting.
