Villagers up in arms over ‘busaa’ shortage as some wives rejoice

Residents of Barwessa village in Baringo County are up in arms over the unavailability and inflated places of busaa, their favourite local brew.

The crisis has been occasioned by farmers who are buying the drink in large volumes and hoarding it, after word went round that it can cure goats from the deadly foot and mouth disease that has been reported in the area.

While ‘mama pimas (busaa sellers)’ are celebrating the booming business, their regular customers are dying of ‘thirst’ as most cannot afford it anymore because of the hiked prices due the product’s scarcity. The busaa lovers are angry with the farmers whom they now accuse of depriving them of their sole source of entertainment.

A section of traditional brew customers who spoke to Crazy Monday registered their displeasure, accusing both ‘mama pimas’ and the farmers of being inconsiderate.

“Kiimer kito werchu matakumii sota cha bo bois betusiechu. Kialda chewirkiin maiyo koaldochi kobatik ab nego.Lenii kiomee nee kinoo (The situation is dire, we have nothing to drink as the sellers have sold the brew to livestock keepers. What do they think we will be taking?),” asked Kipyekumin Aengwo, a local.

The enraged traditional booze lovers said the drink’s price has since almost tripled, seeing as what used to go for Sh20 now retails at Sh50. He adds that one is lucky to have a sip of the drink.

They say the goat keepers are buying the drink in large quantities, which they hoard, leaving the consumers in anguish.

“Nowadays, we have nowhere to relax. Every time we are told there is no busaa,” added another one.

The pastoralists who use the drink as a remedy for the deadly disease gave testimonies on how the brew ‘wipes’ out the disease, keeping the veterinarian at bay.

“We serve them the brews and within a week, they get healed. Hiring a veterinarian to treat the goats is expensive,”said John Chepno, a farmer.

Cheboywo, a farmer, says he prefers buying 20 litres of busaa at Sh2,000 than getting a vet who will charge him Sh200 per goat as he has over 150 goats.

As the local beer lovers are complaining of the busaa crisis, some of the women whose husbands were regular visitors to the busaa dens are wishing the goat disease continues so that their husbands remain ‘relevant’.

“For the last one week, I have felt like there was a husband in this house. Even the children have felt the presence of a father-figure for the first time,” narrated one woman.

She says that previously, her husband was always drunk, leaving her to look for school fees alone. Currently, they both toil in search of fees for their Form Two daughter.