• Residents had complained of stomachache and general body weakness after consuming the brew over the weekend.
• Nakuru county deputy police commander Joseph Tonui said several others had been taken ill.
*Updated at 2.40pm to raise death toll to six
Six people on Monday died after consuming illicit brew in Jawatho village in Njoro, Nakuru county.
Residents had complained of stomachache and general body weakness after consuming the brew over the weekend.
Nakuru county deputy police commander Joseph Tonui said several others had been taken ill.
Resident Francis Mungai said his son, Michael Kariuki, who is in his late 30s, was a victim of the poisonous drink and died on Monday morning.
“When I came home at around 11pm, I met him asleep in my house on the couch, I however did not talk to him and went straight to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I tried to wake him up but he did not respond and that’s when I noticed he was no more,” Mungai said.
Mungai said he had warned his son several times to stop drinking the cheap liquor that is sold in the area but in vain.
Another resident, Joseph Igunzi, said he took his friend Job to hospital after he noticed he was unwell.
According to Igunzi, Job said he had consumed the brew on Saturday and felt unwell thereafter.
"I took Job to the hospital and he was treated and discharged, but he fell ill again after sometime, and on our way back to the hospital is when we realised he had passed away,” Igunza said.
Njoro OCPD Jonathan Kisaka however downplayed the incident, saying no deaths had been reported over illicit brew consumption.
Deaths after consuming illicit brew are not new to Nakuru county.
In August, more than 30 people became ill after taking the poisonous drink.
Ten, among them a pregnant woman, succumbed.
Residents said deaths related to illicit liquor consumption were common in the area and urged the governor to ensure the trade stopped.
They allegedly drank spiked illicit brew at a drinking den in JC area of Kabatini location, Nakuru North subcounty.
Edited by CM