Police, chiefs blamed over illicit brew deaths

A survivor of the killer brew that claimed 20 lives in Embu County at Embu Level Five General Hospital. He partially lost his eye sight. [PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD]

By FRANCIS NGIGE

NYERI, KENYA: County governments and security agencies are on the spotlight following the tens of deaths from illicit brews in central region.

With the problem of alcoholism reaching alarming levels in the region, little has been done to check the vice that has seen many youth drown in the cheap and readily available brews.

In a region where hundreds have lost their lives, residents have now shifted blame to the police and the Provincial Administration for doing little to combat the menace that has taken toll on the youth. Many feel that police are concentrating too much on licensed bars and other legal alcohol selling points ignoring the ever-mushrooming brew dens.

In major towns across the region, police backed by provincial administrators strictly enforce the law regarding the opening and closing of licensed bars while in the slums and other low income areas, the doors to drinking dens where the illicit brews are sold are always open.

It is not uncommon to see a young man or woman in a drunken stupor early in the morning.

Majority of young men you encounter along the dark alleys in the slums are mostly in a state of cheap liquor-induced hangover.

Their dazed demeanour and rustic blood-shot eyes betray them as drug abusers or simply consumers of the cheap alcohol, which is readily available in the area.

And whenever deaths are reported as a result of the brews, police and chiefs swing into action closing down the dens and arresting the traders.

“Just wait and see how police will react after these deaths. They will move with zeal to fight the illicit brews but only for a few days but soon it will be business as usual,” said Samuel Karanja, a resident of Nyeri town.

A civil rights group, Futa Magendo Action Network, accuses the Government of reacting to situations instead of preventing the sale and consumption of the illicit brews.

POLICEMAN’S ILLICIT BREWS

Its Executive Director James Mugo says despite numerous complaints from residents, the chiefs and police just move around collecting bribes from the illicit dens for protection.

“I know, for example, there is an illicit brew den in Majengo slums in Nyeri, which is owned by a police officer. Youth patronising it are usually drunk from morning,” said Mr Mugo.

Whenever such a tragedy occurs, Government officials troop to the scene condemning and promising action. Wednesday, the National Agency for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) Chairman John Mututho was in Embu following the death of the now over 60 people.

Mr Mututho observed that the reported figure is a small fraction of those poisoned daily by the brews. He blamed the incidents on laxity among those who are in position of leadership including provincial administrators who condone the practice after taking little bribes.

On measures being undertaken by Nacada to crack down on illicit brews, Mututho said they are pushing for strictness in provision of licenses to limit those eligible and ensure loopholes that were being exploited are sealed.