Governor Kimemia disbands Nyandarua County liquor licensing board

Governor Francis Kimemia

Governor Francis Kimemia  has disbanded the county liquor licensing board, saying it had failed to curb consumption of illicit drinks.

He criticised the board, saying it had become a money-minting venture benefiting only a few people at the expense of long-suffering residents.

“This is one of the steps that we have taken so that we can get rid of the alcohol and drug menace. We cannot have a board that is collecting revenue and at the end, it is just benefiting a few individuals,” he said.

Mr Kimemia, who was speaking in Ol Kalou town yesterday, announced that the County Alcohol Control and Drinking Act would be amended to have the sector controlled by a directorate under his office.

The governor said it was regretted that the county had more than 1,300 bars, noting that the number had doubled in the past one year. The bars, he added, were more than the schools and churches combined.

“This is a total shame and we cannot let it continue. We will reduce the number of bars drastically once the directorate is in place,’ noted the governor.

Kimemia, who was holding a consultative meeting with officials from the national government to deliberate on ways to control the alcohol menace in the devolved unit, said the county’s economy was suffering because many youths were not productive.

A report presented to the governor said the licensing board used Sh5 million to run its operations out of the Sh12.2 million it collected in the 2015/2016 financial year.