National coordinator at the National Civil Society Congress Churchill Suba, has termed the move by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua allowing one bar in Mt Kenya and all in Nairobi to run as double standards.
Speaking at an interview on KTN on Friday, Suba said in Mt Kenya, Gachagua is fighting alcoholism but in Nairobi he is fighting Governor Johnson Sakaja.
"In as much as he wants drinking to be controlled in Mount Kenya so should it be in Nairobi, but you cannot have double standards," he said.
Suba said Sakaja is only trying to fight alcoholism in Nairobi just as Gachagua is fighting it in Central.
"We don't want a Deputy President who will fight alcoholism in Central and demand that only one bar be licensed, yet in Nairobi he is busy fighting the governor," he said.
Suba said Gachagua cannot be singing different tunes in Nairobi and Central regarding the alcoholism menace.
He added that Gachagua ought to think beyond where he was born and grew up.
"I saw him with chiefs and county commissioners, asking governors why they are licensing too many bars. What does he say when he is Nairobi? Sakaja is destroying the businesses of people from Mount Kenya," Suba said.
"Let's not have this double standard."
Gachagua had ordered administrators in Mt Kenya region to reduce the number of alcohol-selling outlets.
He expressed concerns over the rising levels of alcoholism in the region that he has said has destroyed men of productive age.
The DP said although county governments are looking for ways to boost their revenue, licensing too many bars has aggravated the situation as it has made alcoholic drinks too accessible.
Gachagua now wants only one bar and restaurant allowed to operate in a particular town, while the rest of the outlets open at 5pm and close at 11pm.
