Police have done a good job to hunt down illicit brewers in Kisumu town.
In the recent past, thousands of cartons of alcohol worth millions of shillings have been impounded. The police have been able to confiscate drinks with fake KeBS stickers.
Illicit brewers (chang’aa dealers) have not been spared either and I congratulate the police for work well done.
My concern is that the same hunt is not carried out in the villages and areas far of town. At Maseno Township various brands such as Moon walker, Shakers, Dallas, Royal Vodka just to mention but four still exist.
I know there are original brands certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards but I also know there are fake brands within the pubs in this rural setup.
The worst is that in the rural set up such villages in Nyawita around Maseno market, very few people can distinguish an original brand from a fake one. The few who consume the industrial brand work on assumption and they stand a chance of consuming the fake ones without knowledge.
I have never heard of a bar or a club at Maseno market and its environ has been raided either having fake brands or working during the wrong time yet pubs operate and sell liquor to people even in the wee hours of the day. Pubs and clubs do exist even in the interior parts of the villages.
It should also be noted that currently the chang’aa dealers have moved a step higher when it comes to technology.
Currently, they pack the illegal stuff in industrial bottles either of the aforementioned brands. The chang’aa business is booming in villages and with the less patrols by the police force the dealers are working with ease from morning to evening.
I am still not sure if the Mututho law is still in place. At Maseno in Nyawita village it is normal to find a young man drunk at 11am and you wonder whether the law and the law enforcers are still alive. The patrols within the villages are minimal and the dealers are taking advantage of the situation.
I am sure the police are tempted to focus their energies in towns and populated marketplaces in order to get media attention ignoring the villages. I urge them to be neutral and strive to visit the deeper villages where unlawful business and behaviours are taking place day and night