Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has sharply criticised Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen over what he termed as hypocrisy and failing to protect the gains made in the war against drugs and illicit alcohol.
Gachagua on Thursday claimed that the government’s anti-drug campaign was nothing but political theatrics meant to cover up the deliberate sabotage of real interventions that had previously worked.
“Drama and loftiness won’t help. We have sufficient laws and other regulations on alcohol. Implement them. Spare Kenyans the joke and get to work,” Gachagua stated.
Gachagua was responding to Murkomen’s speech during a forum by NACADA on Wednesday, where the CS blamed gaps in the fight against alcohol and drug use on the failure of enforcement by lower-level administrators.
The experience we got from Jukwaa la Usalama was, we have decided that instead of the lofty statements and conferences and workshops at the national level, we take the problem to the lowest unit possible," Murkomen said.
“There is no alcohol or drugs that are sold in Kenya without the support and knowledge of the chief and the OCS, and when I said that the chiefs also said that it is true we try to do some enforcement work but if you don't get the support of the OCS there is nowhere you can go," he added.
But Gachagua dismissed that view, saying that while in office, he had put practical measures to curb illicit alcohol and check drug abuse.
"In a record one year of consistent hard work and practical interventions, we successfully eliminated illicit and poisonous alcohol and brought sobriety among our brothers and sisters who had been affected," he said.
He said the effort saw a lot of gains made, including KRA reporting an increase in revenue in excise duty.
This, he said, was due to Kenyans consuming genuine alcohol from authorised establishments that paid taxes.
He claimed that the effort was sabotaged by government officials, causing the gains made to be lost.
"What do you intend to do differently from what had successfully been done?" he posed.
Gachagua claimed the sabotage led to the operations of illicit brewers, which had been shut down during his time in office to be restored.
He further claimed that funding from a national rehabilitation programme led by his spouse Pastor Dorcas Rigathi was withdrawn, despite helping thousands of youth overcome addiction.
According to Gachagua, the war on drugs and alcohol was already being won before political interference reversed the progress.
