War against counterfeits ongoing

A police officer uses a panga to destroy containers with illicit liquor in Ndhiwa Sub-County. [James Omoro/Standard]

Murang’a County government has embarked on a mission to ensure liquor products being sold to customers are safe.

The liquor licensing board has started collecting samples of various brands in the market and taking them for analysis at the government’s chemist.

County liquor program officer Phares Njue said this is aimed at ensuring that the dealers do not sneak in harmful substances into their shelves.

In the mission to enhance the quality of the products, the county government is collecting samples of all the brands in the market for analysis at the government.

The mission has put the distributors on surveillance to ensure their products are safe to the consumers.

Njue said this is one of the spirited efforts to fight counterfeits in the market, and also tracing the brand manufacturers.

He said samples of 10 brands were collected last week and submitted for analysis.

“Murang’a has been kept safe from harmful products following the initiative to collect samples from outlets on a monthly basis,” said Njue.

The exercise is supported by Murang’a Bar and Hotel Owners Association where the members provide samples at will.

Chairman to the association Simon Jogoo Njoroge said the exercise has been successful as illicit brews have been blocked from accessing the market.

Jogoo said the project coordinated through a liquor licensing programme has educated the traders to identify fake KRA stamps.

 “A lot has been achieved through the coordination platform between the players in the sector,” said Jogoo.

Last year, a multi-agency team discovered some of the outlets were not licensed and selling expired products during an operation in Kandara Sub-County.