Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has proposed that county revenue collected from bars and liquor joints be used to fund the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) and various rehabilitation centers in the counties.
The DP made the proposal to county heads in a meeting held in Nakuru County on Monday, May 29 morning.
Gachagua was meeting with regional leaders and National Government Administration Officials to discuss ways they can resolve alcoholism and Drug Abuse among the Youth.
In his speech, Gachagua argues that since the revenue collected from the sale of liquor is a 'sin tax', then it would be better if used to solve the addiction.
"I want to ask the County Governments to use revenue collected from the sale of alcohol revenue to NACADA and rehabilitation centers in the various counties. It is a sin tax, so why don't we use it to fix sin?" Gachagua poses a question.
"We are asking you to consider using the revenue you collect from these bars and give some to help run NACADA and the rest to help support these rehabilitation centers and deal with alcohol addiction,"
According to him, he is not against alcohol consumption but discourages daytime drinking by reducing operating hours to have a productive workforce.
"We want governors to allow licensing of bars to be done only once a year,"
Gachagua has also accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration of allowing alcoholism and drug abuse to spread among the young people.
Gachagua says that the former regime did nothing to stop the spread of alcoholism and drug abuse among the youth and also issued licenses to establishments selling illicit brews.
"We have a problem. I have been accused of being paranoid of the previous administration but the truth is the situation degenerated as the previous administration watched by. The level of impunity in the sale of illicit alcohol and drugs is at a level that is not acceptable anywhere in the world," he adds.
"I am here to defend my boss. Kindiki and I cannot sleep when the backyard of our boss is consumed with alcohol and drug abuse. We can solve the problem by first acknowledging there is a problem."
The Deputy President has defended law enforcement officers saying 'they lacked proper leadership' in the fight against illicit brew.
"People are selling alcohol 24 hours selling poison as officers just watched. I don't want to blame the officers because there was no political direction. People are led. Officers are led,"
The former Mathira MP says Uhuru's government used government officers to push political interests as opposed to doing their duties.
"In his [President William Ruto's] opinion the national administration officers had absconded duty and went into politics of BBI and Azimio. He was wondering why we need that branch of government. The problem was not the officers it was the leadership. They were removed from security duties and asked to collect signatures and other projects of Azimio,
