Gachagua meets Mt Kenya leaders to tackle growing alcoholism crisis

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua making his address during Githunguri Constituency Mentorship Dinner of professionals organised by area MP Gathoni wa Muchomba in Kiambu County on March 31, 2023. [DPCS] Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will for the first time meet all elected Mt Kenya leaders in a bid to rally them to unite in the fight against the alcohol and drug abuse menace pitting the region. Leaders including senators, governors, Members of Parliament, regional commanders, county commissioners, and the regional commissioner will converge at the regional commissioner's residence to chart a way forward in the anti-drug abuse campaign. Others invited to the consultative forum include the Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Susan Nakhumicha and officials from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada). According to the leaders, the meeting will establish a clear roadmap on policy frameworks in the fight against illicit brew and drug abuse, as well as areas of mutual collaboration between the devolved units, the ministry of Health and the elected leaders in a bid to give the campaign political good will. Gachagua, while declaring his intentions to invite the regional leaders to the forum, said it "would be a defining moment with far-reaching implications to save the youth of the region from Nyandarua, Kiambu, Murang'a, Kirinyaga, and Nyeri counties". The DP said youth in the region are no longer productive in family and nation-building because they are drunk for most part of the day or sleeping by the roadside to recover and go back for more alcohol. "We are losing an entire generation to the illicit liquor being sold in Central Kenya. Youths have become zombies," said Gachagua on April 2 at Elysian Hotel in Kiambu, during the Githunguri Constituency Mentorship Dinner. Gachagua's meeting comes at a time when Nacada has released a report ranking Central Kenya as the region with the highest level of alcohol consumption. At least 12.8 per cent of residents aged between 15 and 65 consume alcohol, compared to a national rate of 11.8 per cent. While the national use of portable spirits stands at 2.5 per cent, in Central Kenya the rate is 4.1 per cent. Portable spirits are classified as illicit brews Further, the report indicates that despite the increase in alcohol consumption, public rehabilitation facilities are few, leading to an increase in the number of people with alcohol-related disorders. In addition, most rehabilitation facilities are expensive. The number of cases of alcohol-related disorders is 3,199,119, while the abuse of any one substance has resulted in 4,733,152 cases of disorders. In the recent past, Gachagua has recommended that the role of issuance of licenses to be reverted back to Nacada, while the role of collecting levies is left to the devolved units. In January this year, the DP came under sharp criticism after asking governors from Mt Kenya region to revoke all licenses in a bid to issue a license per every town, a move that was vehemently opposed by bar owners. "I urge all the county governments from Mt Kenya region to go back to the round table and revoke the licenses you have issued to bars and restaurants as they are destroying our children because you are looking for money to construct roads," Gachagua said. The national chairperson for the Bars Hotels and Liquor Traders Association (Bahlita), Simon Njoroge, hit back at the DP saying he needed to differentiate between the war on illicit brew and fighting the entrepreneurs who are in a legitimate business of beverages that include alcohol. According to Njoroge, the closure of bars and restaurants would lead to unemployment and hence defeat the government's objective of encouraging the establishment of industries. "Bar owners do not manufacture alcohol, the efforts should be directed at ensuring whether the products sold on our premises have met the required standards. We have been on record supporting the government's efforts to fight illicit brews in the country," said Njoroge. Njoroge admitted that regulation of bars and restaurants, wines and spirits, and distributors would be a great deal in ensuring that the already existing laws were being followed. His sentiments were echoed by former Murang'a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria who said Gachagua's unilateral statements could encourage monopolisation in the issuance of licenses. "There are national standards set for one to be licensed to operate a bar and restaurant and there are established laws on that matter when one has met the standards, he ought to be allowed to engage in a legitimate business," said Wa Iria. The former governor said the move would discriminate Mt Kenya business owners against other traders in other region questioning the rationale for the implementation of such a 'roadside declaration'. The fight against illicit brew has in the past claimed many business premises and political careers of leaders who have in the past vowed to deal with the menace. Former Naivasha MP John Mututho said the campaign has never been honest and has been used to build political profiles of leaders in the front line and promoting their egos but not to end the menace. "In 2015, a robust campaign was held for one month but it ended prematurely. We were told that four million liters were poured but we were never told whether it reached its intended results. It was just a theraputic move," said Mututho. He said the reason why he failed to clinch his parliamentary seat even after fighting the menace was because some State actors conspired against him and sponsored him out of Parliament Soon after the Kenya Kwanza government took over the country's leadership, it reversed a decision by Uhuru Kenyatta's regime to close over 26 beer manufacturing companies that had been closed over claims of making illicit and counterfeit products. An MP who requested anonymity said the government's move to fight drugs and illicit brew could be counterproductive because it was in support of moneyed investors who are in the business of destroying the youth. "If we truly want to end the menace we need to cut links with tycoons who are in the business of manufacturing and distribution of illicit liquor," said the MP. Meanwhile Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri said the main cause of alcohol abuse was hopelessness caused by lack of jobs. "The cure is amending the Constitution and enriching one man-one vote-one shilling in the Constitution so that our region gets what rightfully belongs to us. Through that, we shall have created more jobs and our youth will not go into drug abuse," he said. Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba a one-time ambassador in the fight against illicit brew in 2015 said the main reason that killed the initiative was conflict of interest among the very players who should be at the forefront of the crackdown. MPs who have since received their invitation letters to the DPs conference said they were hopeful that after the caucus, a resolution will be passed and timelines set on eradication of the vice. MPs John Kaguchia (Mukurweini), Njoroge Wainaina (Kieni) and Kirinyaga Woman Rep Njeri Maina, among others, confirmed to have received invites. "We believe that by the end of the meeting, we shall have tangible resolutions on how to fight the menace that is upon us," said Maina.

Gachagua meets Mt Kenya leaders to tackle growing alcoholism crisis

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