Alcohol
Meru County Commissioner Jacob Ouma has called for concerted efforts from all the Meru stakeholders to succeed in fighting the manufacture and consumption of illicit brews in the region. He termed consumption of the brews by young men and women in the county as a disaster that might soon wipe them out, leading to a generation gap.
“We have young people who are not working at all, and all they do when they wake up is to go to the drinking dens. If this continues, I am afraid that such people might not even think of marrying and this will hurt the society,” said Mr Ouma.
He said his office is committed to fighting this war emphasising the need for all stakeholders including the County government which is the licensing agency, Chiefs and their Assistants, police, elected leaders as well as other enforcement agencies to join hands if they were to succeed.
“There is a need for all of us to work as a team because for instance if you are a chief and you are protecting brewers or collecting ‘protection fees’ from them, we will be after you. We will not sort out anything by accusing or pointing fingers at other leaders,” said Mr Ouma.
He added: “How does one account for someone operating with two licences? He has a wines and spirits license where he operates from 8 am to 6 pm and immediately after 6 pm, the same person gets to the drawer and gets another license which gives him the go-ahead to operate from 6 pm to 11 pm.”
He said he will soon call for a round table meeting with all the stakeholders to forge a way forward.
He also called on the residents and leaders to recognise some of the government officers who have been working tirelessly to end the menace despite the massive resistance they face from the victims.
“I have all the data and evidence of Chiefs who have done marvellous in eradicating illicit brews in their locations and we should thank them for these even as we point fingers at others,” said Mr Ouma. Meru County Governor Kawira Mwangaza has welcomed the move adding that she is ready for the meeting so that they can identify where there are gaps to address them.
“If we come together and work as a team, we will achieve our goal of eradicating illicit brews from the county which is compromising our development agenda,” said Ms Mwangaza.
