Gatundu security agencies to pardon reformed illicit liquor brewers

Deputy county commissioner Rose Chege said that reformed brewers and drug peddlers will be pardoned once they surrender and pledge to shun the vice.

She said that despite the relentless fight, the business is still thriving. 

Chege spoke on Wednesday at Wamitaa village, which is synonymous with chang'aa and drugs, while helping two notorious brewers who have reformed and started legal ventures.

The  administrator, who was accompanied by Gatundu subcounty police commander Jonathan Koech and other officers, said the brewers identified as Robert Kebaso, alias Gikuyu, and Paul Kibugi, alias UDA, sought audience with security agencies and received help. 

"They came to us and affirmed that they have stopped engaging in the criminal activities and they wanted our help. Kebaso, who's not a native, told me that he needs assistance to go back to his home in Nyamira county and start a new life with his family," Chege said. 

The administrator led security officers and residents in raising funds for Kebaso who received Sh15,000 to help him return home. 

The trader told journalists that he decided to reform after 10 years of brewing and selling chang'aa in the Wamitaa village due to the frequent altercations with law enforcement officers. 

"I got tired of playing hide and seek with police officers. I rarely slept at my home and operated in hiding," Kebaso said.

He said that he has nothing to show for the illegal business since all proceeds were always spent in bailing him out of police cells and courts.

Kebaso said that he regrets destroying lives of youths through his activities. He said many of the youths dropped out of school due to heavy consumption of the brews and drugs. 

Kibugi, who learnt about chang'aa brewing from his elder brother, said he is tired of being on the wrong side of the law. He said he has already reformed and is engaging in legal ventures to earn a living.

Residents, led by Mukami Ng'ang'a and Lucy Njoki, said that the illicit brews had turned their sons into zombies and rendered them unproductive. They said the brews have also claimed the lives of their children and destroyed families.

The residents said the vice had led to an increase in other crimes, including house break-ins and theft of farm produce, which was being perpetrated by the youths who do not want to make a living honestly.  

Njoki said that her two sons who were been employed by Kebaso succumbed to heavy consumption of chang'aa while two others were recently arrested and are still locked up. 

"I also have a daughter whose life and that of her two children have been destroyed by the illicit brews. I am alive because of God's mercies, otherwise I would not be alive because of the stress and trauma I have been put through. I am happy that he (Kebaso) is leaving this village because he is the cause of my miseries," she said.