Police admit challenges eradicating killer drinks in Nyanza as no arrests made

Illicit brew crackdown (PHOTO: COURTESY)

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Nyanza region has become a dumping site for second-generation alcohol banned in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

There are reports the alcohol is responsible for increasing cases of fishermen drowning in Lake Victoria.

Last week, the police and officials from the county and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) arrested seven people at the Kisumu main bus terminus and impounded hundreds of cartons of the illicit drinks.

The drinks, which have turned many youths into zombies, are sold in sachets Kenya banned in 2004.

Illicit brews have flooded the region with school children, boda boda operators and even street children as the main targets. 

Many prefer these drinks because they are portable and more importantly, cheap. 

But users are also going against the recent ban on plastics in Kenya as they dump the papers in the streets and drainage systems after emptying their contents. 

Uganda banned the sachets in 2016 before Tanzania took the same path last year. This was after health authorities confirmed the drinks were deadly to consumers.

The police and Lake Victoria Beach Management Unit officials have confirmed to The Standard that the drinks, imported in bulk from Uganda, are responsible for the high number of fishermen who have been drowning.

Boda boda riders have also been reported to cause many accidents to due to the drinks. 

In Kisumu, the drinks, which are fast gaining popularity among low-income earners, are sold in backstreet kiosks, bus parks and slums.

They have also found their way into villages and in the islands of Lake Victoria. Fishermen have been consuming the drinks before embarking on their activities. As a result, many have drowned.

Frequent police operations to rid the lakeside city off the killer brews have achieved little.

The police have admitted they have not made any arrests even after impounding the illicit alcohol. 

"In many cases, dealers escape leaving the drinks behind, either in vehicles, houses or kiosks. But I think we will need to change tact to apprehend them," said Kisumu county police commander John Kamau.

A spot check reveals at least five brands of the prohibited drinks are easily available in Kisumu.

They are all manufactured by a company based in Kampala, Uganda and packed in 100ml sachets with an alcohol content of 40 per cent. The sachets retail between Sh20 and Sh50.

Distributors operate in a tightly-guarded ring and 'outsiders' are not allowed in the web.

The description on one of the sachets show the drink contains portable spirit, purified water and permitted food flavours.

Alcohol content

Contents of another drink, also manufactured by a Kampala-based distiller, are not stated, only alcohol content which is also 40 per cent. A sachet of the brews goes for between Sh20 and Sh50.  

An even more potent drink contains 42.8 per cent alcohol. It is also manufactured in Uganda. Its ingredients are stated as purified water, extra-neutral alcohol and permitted food flavours.

Then there is a less potent one with 20 per cent alcohol that retails between Sh20 and Sh40.

Those interviewed said the drinks are sneaked in through the Busia border before being  distributed in major towns in Western Kenya. 

A senior KEBS officer, who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said sale of alcohol in sachets remained banned in Kenya.

"The law is very clear as far as these drinks and their packaging is concerned. These people are breaking the law. The problem is corruption and poor enforcement of the  law," said the officer.

He said some rogue officers were colluding with the importers. "It is a multi-million-shilling black market. Alcohol in sachets is being sold almost everywhere in Nyanza."

A source took us to the main bus station in Kisumu where two major suppliers operate from. Their kiosks are less than 30 metres from the Kenya Police Training College.

And when we went to the kiosks with partially open doors to buy some drinks, the operators turned us away. They said they did not sell the drinks we had described.

Later, we sent a client, who is well-known to the suppliers, and who was able to buy sachets of three different drinks at Sh30 each.

"They don't sell the alcohol to strangers. To make it worse, you don't look like consumers of alcohol," our contact said after delivering the sachets.

He said the alcohol is ferried from Busia in lorries or Probox vehicles early in the morning or late in the evening, then it is distributed to sellers.

"You will see some collecting sachets in bags which they sell to boda boda operators and drivers at the bus stage. Others carry the sachets in used milk cartons or alcohol cartons. The banned alcohol is even sold in major bars but not to everybody," said the source.   

At some point, a police officer in uniform passes by a kiosk selling the alcohol. The kiosk is between the police college and Khetias Supermarket. He is seen chatting with people who appear to have been in the kiosk to buy the drinks, then they part ways.

“The officer knows what happens there but he cannot do anything,” a source tells us when we tell him we fear buying the product with the officer around.

Spare parts

At Kamas Jua Kali sheds, off Obote Road, some people are seen coming out of kiosks said to be selling the banned alcohol with packets in their hands. From a distance, the structure looks like a shop for car spare parts.

One user claimed some brands are manufactured in Kisumu and Eldoret and only packed with Ugandan labels to conceal identities of the distillers.

"The distillers are well known in the town. They are licensed to manufacture spirits but are also making illegal ones because there is a ready market," he said.

A boda boda operator within the Kisumu CBD said they lost a colleague who was suspected to have been drunk when he was involved in an accident.

"We lost a friend two weeks ago to the illicit drinks. He will be buried on Saturday. He was seen taking the alcohol only for his lifeless body to be found at the same place the following day. We suspect he took too much alcohol on an empty stomach," the rider said.

Sources accused the police of protecting importers of the illegal brews, and in some instances offering them escort during deliveries.

Last week, a confrontation ensued between Administration Police officers and their counterparts from the Flying Squad Unit over several cartons of the illegal brews impounded in the city.

Witnesses said the APs had apprehended a vehicle full of the brews when those from the Flying Squad tried intervene to ‘save’ the retailer.

Get out of hand

The APs are said to have cocked their guns when things almost got out of hand. Witnesses said the suspect was well known to the officers from the Flying Squad.  

But Mr Kamau downplayed the claims. He said the confrontation was not because of the war on illicit brews. He said the issues that had caused a disagreement between the officers had been sorted out.

“The arrest was made by Port officers who towed the vehicle to the Kisumu Pier. However, when the AP officers got information about a vehicle lying at the port with illegal consignment, they decided to take it the station. That is what caused the disagreement,” said Kamau.

Kamau admitted that fighting illegal brews had been a big challenge due to the secrecy in which sellers operate.

“I may not dismiss claims some officers could be in the racket, but I want evidence that can help us in our investigations. I would be glad if I got a tip-off on a police vehicle spotted escorting such illegal brews, or when an officer is seen taking money to protect the dealers,” said Kamau.

In July 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta took the lead in the fight against production and sale of illicit brews when he ordered a major crackdown in Central Kenya.

The directive came amidst growing concern that youths in Central Kenya had taken to excessively indulging in the brews, which had stunted their economic productivity.

There were reports that heavy drinking had led to broken families.

While equating illicit brews in Mt Kenya region to the outlawed Mungiki sect, Mr Kenyatta said he would ensure they were stamped out.