Police locate illicit brewing den in dense Nyahururu forest

The fight against illicit brews has received a major boost with the discovery of a distilling centre where more than 2,000 litres was netted in Nyahururu yesterday.

The police found the brewery along the Nguba River deep inside Shemanek forest during an early morning raid.

The raid was led by District Administration Police Commandant Daniel Masaba, Mutitu location chief Eston Maina and his Kiamaina counterpart Joseph Waithaka.

“It seems the brewers have changed tack and are not processing the drinks in their homes anymore. They do it deep in the forest and later transport it to the market. This is a major breakthrough in the fight against illicit brews,” said Masaba.

He said there has been a public outcry over a man processing the brews and supplying it to residential areas in the outskirts of Nyahururu town and Kiamaina and Manguo slums.

The police said they did not find the proprietor at the scene as he may have got wind of the operation and escaped.

“This man is well known to the public and we will soon catch up with him. We travelled more than 20 kilometres to get to the scene deep in the forest. We will not let him go free,” said the commandant.

Masaba said they were pursuing other brewers besides the proprietor.
“This is one of the major suppliers. We are happy we have unearthed his distilling centre. We will not let them continue with the trade,” he said.

Chief Maina commended residents for giving police information about the distilling centre.

He said they would not allow illegal brews to be sold in the area.