Focus on brewers, not consumers to win war on illicit alcohol, police told
By Oliver Musembi, September 1, 2023
Security agencies in Kiambu County have been directed go for the manufacturers and sellers of illicit liquor instead of arresting and prosecute consumers.
County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha says the fight against illegal alcohol can only be won by arresting and prosecuting those behind the brews and not the consumers.
“We have been prosecuting the wrong persons; the consumers. We need to change tactics and go for manufacturers, distributers, stockists and all those in the supply chain of bad liquor and drugs for the effort to have any impact,” Nkanatha said.
He was speaking in Ruiru during the closing of a training session for recovered alcohol and drug addicts, among them former street children, at the Redeemed Gospel Church.
The event was organised by the Association of Pentecostal and Evangelical Clergy of Kenya, the administration and National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada).
“Once we get rid of the sources of these substances, even the consumers, most of whom are young people, will have nowhere to go for the stuff,” said Nkanatha who was accompanied by Ruiru Deputy County Commissioner Margaret Mbugua.
The Commissioner at the same time said the government intends to use the recovered addicts in community outreach programs to check drug and alcohol abuse.
“We are excited and confident that the new approach will bear fruit since we will use these reformed youths to reach their peers,” he said.
He also hailed the initiative by the church to join government and other agencies in efforts to eradicate substance abuse.
Nacada director Fredrick Ngugi, who is also a church minister, said the community-based rehabilitation initiative was bearing fruit.
Some of the former street children also recounted the tough situations they had to go through.
Anne Stefanie Wanjiru, 31, who was born in Nakuru narrated how she gave birth to nine children in the streets with different men. She said only four of them are alive.
She said her father defiled her when she was only eight years old, an act which has traumatised her to date.