The National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse wants liquor licensing reviewed to help fight alcoholism in the country.
Nacada chief executive officer Victor Okioma said the review will help mitigate the challenges the authority faces in addressing the abuse of alcohol.
Okioma attributed the increased cases of alcohol abuse in the country to improper licensing of bars and other outlets selling alcohol.
Currently, county governments are responsible for licensing of bars as per the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act 2010.
This, the authority boss said, has led to a high number of alcohol outlets thereby increasing access to liquor.
Okioma said county governments are mostly motivated by revenue collection from licensing fees rather than considering the health of the people.
He made the remarks in Kisumu on Tuesday.
“We have engaged the Inter-governmental Relations Committee to work on the review,” he said.
Okioma noted that before an outlet is licensed to sell alcohol, proper vetting must be done to determine the safety of its products.
“This is very crucial because most of the alcoholic drinks in the market are imported into the country."
He said the law that prohibits establishment of bars within 300 meters from schools has been disobeyed.
Okioma said they have launched a crackdown to shut down the premises which have not complied with the set regulations.
Further, he called for the vetting of bars and restaurants to ensure they comply with the law.
“We propose the issuance of a license for the restaurant first before that of a bar to ensure the owner meets all requirements to operate a restaurant before selling alcohol,” Okioma said.
A number of operators hide in the restaurant business to sell alcohol during prohibited hours, he said.
The CEO noted that corruption was one of the many challenges in the fight against alcoholism and drug abuse.
“The government will not hesitate to take action against the officers found abetting crime,” Okioma warned.
He disclosed that they have arrested several suspects and taken them to court. Nacada chairman Julius Githiri said many youths have been lured into the abuse of alcohol due to increase number of bars in Kenya.
He said the age of children being exposed to alcohol has dropped to four years where bars near schools and residential areas.
“We are appealing to teachers, parents and religious leaders to firm against alcoholism to save the youths,” Githiri said.
Recently, Uganda banned the sale of alcohol in sachets, which the chairman said will help in the fight on alcoholism.
Edited by R.Wamochie
