- Kuria said the war against illicit alcohol can only be won if it is approached from the producer's perspective rather than consumers.
- The CS however praised his football tournament that is running across the Mt. Kenya region saying such are the measures needed to combat the root causes of alcoholism in the region
Image: FILE
Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has questioned the state’s modus operandi in dealing with the illicit brew menace.
Kuria has taken a swipe at the approach taken by the government in the fight against alcoholism and illicit alcohol in the country saying it is too forceful.
The CS who spoke on Monday on a local radio station said the government needs to change its tact and adopt long-term measures that will deal with the issue once and for all.
Closing bars, he said, is a knee-jerk reaction that did not succeed in 2015 when it was first employed by the Jubilee government in a country-wide fight against alcoholism.
The CS, however, praised his football tournament that is running across the Mt Kenya region saying such are the measures needed to combat the root causes of alcoholism in the region.
“What we need is something that does not cause disruptions to the order of the day and provides a smooth transition from the old to the new."
“The war against illicit alcohol can only be won if it is approached from the producer's perspective rather than consumers,” he added.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has been leading the fight against alcoholism in the region which has rendered youths unproductive and denied local outfits the necessary workforce.
The fight was accelerated following the death of 17 people who consumed poisonous alcohol in the Kangai area in Kirinyaga County last month.
On March 8, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki visited several counties in the region where he met security teams and reiterated the government’s resolve to win the fight and ordered the transfer of police officers who had stayed in one station for over three years.
Kindiki had earlier suspended the licences of alcohol manufacturers for fresh vetting.
But according to Kuria, the 250 millilitres that are so popular in the villages cost about Sh250 to produce and anything being sold cheaper than that should be keenly interrogated.
Too much freedom, Kuria said, has also been hampering the implementation of policies and that it’s the biggest hindrance to the fight against illicit brew.
“This issue of ‘absolute freedom’ has reduced our country into an activist country where it is very difficult to enforce law and order because entitlement to rights gets exaggerated."
This, he said, has also made it difficult to streamline his ministry as it has tied his hands and stopped him from taking the necessary action.
The CS also criticised the government’s foreign policy which he said dampens foreign investors’ ability to invest in the country, blocking its push for the creation of jobs.
He said government officers hide behind procedure and bureaucracy to stop foreign investors from pitching camp in the country to Kenyans’ detriment.
"We need money that we don't have. We need money that is abroad with other people but the process of getting them to come and deploy their financial resources so that we can create jobs for 10 million jobless millions, the mindset of people here is as if they need us more than we need them," Kuria said.
"Someone said, if you're in a hole, stop digging because we are in a financial hole."
Kuria also said the government’s move to digitise its operations had flopped saying more than 13 million Kenyans physically visited Huduma Centres last year and that many Kenyans will need to be held to undergo the digital transformation.
"One of the sectors I look after that is so popular with Kenyans are Huduma Centres that are largely manual. You might think we're going digital but still, our people want to be assisted," he said.