Where men sell household goods to buy alcohol, drugs

Married men in Kisii have been “stealing” household goods from their own homes and giving them to female chang’aa brewers and drug dealers in exchange for the drugs.

Now, women in the county have raised the alarm over rampant cases of illicit brew and drug abuse, saying it has disoriented many husbands and caused suffering in their families because the men are now “confused” by the wily ways of the chang’aa distillers.

The women have lamented that the single women who sell the drugs and other dubious concoctions have trapped married men in chang’aa dens, effectively ensuring that the men are no longer able to discharge their duties.

Impoverishing families

Led by Hyline Gesare, the women said the trend is impoverishing many families in the region.
Gesare said her husband left home on Saturday and she found him sleeping at a changaa distillers’ house but her efforts to persuade him to return home fell on deaf ears.

The woman, accompanied by her sister-in-law said the brewer slapped Jemimah Moraa, the sister-in law when she questioned why she was keeping the man at her house.

“I found my husband sleeping on the brewer’s bed and he was weak. My children are suffering and urge the government to help me return him home” Gesare told the Press in Kisii town.

She said she found a gas cylinder and her bed sheet at the den, adding, she only recovered the sheet with the help of area chief, Ayienda Mokaya.

Moraa said the brewer who hails from Kenonka village, Kisii central sub county is single and distilling chang’aa at her mother’s rental houses and brags she is untouchable.

The woman, who suffered eye injuries and was treated at Matongo dispensary and discharged, urged security officers to arrest the brewer to face the law.

“I was carrying a child when she slapped me. I raised the alarm when she threatened to beat my sister-in-law with a roller, prompting her to leave us” Moraa said.

Arrest brewers

Father Lawrence Nyaanga urged chiefs and security officers to arrest brewers, saying they sold concoctions to revellers which had ruined their families.

He also asked chiefs and security officers to crack down on business people who operated wines and spirits kiosks and violated rules and regulations.

“They sell the wines and spirits in the morning. Some workers are forced to drink and end up not reporting to their work stations” Nyaanga told the Press at Cathedral church yesterday.

The priest, who is Kisii University Chaplain, urged chiefs, security officers and members of community policing to fight the illicit and drug abuse to save lives of residents.