A COUNTRY TOLD TO STOP DRINKING

Okay, so Kenya may not have been told to stop drinking all together, but it has been told to stop drinking second generation brew, which, at a guess, would affect more than half of the 44 million population of the country.  We watch the local news every night.  The 7pm news is in Swahili, so Eric watches the top stories and then we watch the 9pm news, which is still local, but is in English so the mzungu of the family can understand.  Some of the stories are funny, some are very horrific, some are sad and I guess the news is like that all over the world.  For me, it gives me an idea on what is going on in my own country and I just love that I have my husband here to explain things to me, so that I am getting a locals perspective and I get to understand Kenya and its people more. 

One of the ongoing stories was the banning and destroying of, what is referred to as ‘second generation’ alcoholic drinks.  Second generation alcoholic brands refer to alcoholic beverages that have been lately introduced which are low priced and have high alcohol content.  To start with, alcohol is CHEAP here in Kenya.  When I first moved here I was drinking a local brand of vodka called Blue Moon and it was 400KSH ($5.33AUD).  That was for ONE LITRE.  It suited me fine until I had a friend come to stay and she bought me a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka (which costs 1800KSH / $23AUD which is still CHEAP for a liter of Smirnoff) as a thank-you, and then I realized that my $5.33 bottle of vodka may have tasted like just what it was, cheap.  Needless to say I am now not drinking that on the occasions that I do drink and I either splash out on the Smirnoff at 23 bucks a bottle or there is a Finnish brand called Flirt that is 900KSH ($11.99 AUD) for a liter and it actually tastes good and not like the rocket fuel of Blue Moon.  There are a lot of whiskeys and brandies here that range from $6-$15 bucks a bottle and then the ‘brand’ names like Jameson, Johnnie Walker etc. are all available here, but they are around the 30 buck mark as a guide from the major retailers.

All over the country there are these ‘beer and wine’ shops that are pretty much located in home made structures of metal, bricks,sheets of iron and/or small shipping containers, where people can buy these second generation drinks and we have several just down the road from us.  Boris was ‘our’ man and when we wanted an alcoholic drink without having to jump in our car and drive to Village Market, Eric would just walk up to Boris, and purchase beer, or 330ml or 500ml bottle of spirits with soft drinks and walk home.  It really isn’t a mzungu scene, it is set up wholly for the locals, but having Boris there was pretty cool.  If he didn’t have the soft drink we wanted, he would run to one of the other little shops, or another ‘beer and wine’ shop to get the one that we wanted, for no extra charge.  In the smaller towns and villages there are places where you can purchase quarter bottles of spirits that can cost 80-120 KSH ($1 to $1.33AUD).  No matter what your social economic status is, everyone in Kenya at some point can afford to drink alcohol.  The statistics are quite scary on this fact. 

Changaa or Chang'aa (literal meaning "kill me quick") is an alcoholic drink which is popular in Kenya.  It is distilled from grains like millet, maize and sorghum and it is very potent. Its production and distribution is controlled in many cases by criminal gangs.  Illegally brewed changaa can be purchased for around 15c US to 25c US per glass. The drink is sometimes adulterated by adding substances like jet fuel, embalming fluid or battery acid, which has the effect of giving the beverage more 'kick'.  Without saying, drinkers have suffered blindness or death due to methanol poisoning. In some Nairobi slums, the water used to make the drink is often contaminated with feces, and women's underwear along with decomposing dead rats have been found in the drink during police raids.  This stuff is LETHAL. 

The Kenyan government legalized the traditional home-brewed spirit in 2010, in an effort to take business away from establishments where toxic chemicals are added to the brew to make it stronger, and this is possibly where the ‘bigger’ problem started to emerge and grow into the monster we have here today.   Under the new law, changaa had to be manufactured, distributed and sold in glass bottles, and retailers had to display health warning signs. Sale to individuals under age 18 is still prohibited, as is sale through automatic vending machines. Anyone making or selling adulterated changaa, risks penalties of five million shillings ($67,000 AUD), five years jail, or both. 

Alcohol abuse has emerged as a major hindrance to the health, social and economic development of the people of Kenya. In a nationwide survey conducted by NACADA Authority in 2007, statistics indicated that lifetime prevalence rate for alcohol was 39% and current prevalence rate was 13% for people aged between 15 – 64 years. The number and frequency of deaths resulting from consumption of adulterated alcoholic drinks have reached alarming levels. Many people have lost their lives and many more lost their sight after consuming adulterated alcohol. 12 people died in Nairobi’s Shauri Moyo Estate in April 2010, 5 died in Thindigwa, Kiambu County in July 2010, 23 people died in Kibera in August 2010 and 5 died in Laikipia in August 2010. Alcohol consumption and abuse is influenced by factors including gender, family history and parental influence. Men are at a higher risk of heavy drinking and developing alcohol use disorders. However, the number of women who drink, abuse, and become dependent on alcohol is on the rise.  After a study was done in 2010 in Central Kenya and some of the number that came from the 500 families / 3500 in the study revealed that:

• Nearly 60% reported that alcohol is consumed before noon; the most productive hours of the day.
• Consumption of alcohol among people aged under 18 years is “high”. “Very high” usage was reported for ages 25 – 34 years (males 79% and females 15%) and 19 – 24 years (males 77% and females 14%).
• Alcohol consumption among males aged 35 – 54 years was rated as “very high”. However, alcohol usage declined with reference to ages 55 years and above.
• 29.6% of the community members surveyed had consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime. However, the lifetime prevalence rate was higher among males than females with 53% and 8% respectively.
• Current usage (last 30 days) had consumption estimated at 18% with a male rate of 34% while the female rate stood at 3%.
• Less than 50% of the respondents were consuming first generation alcohol, 40% second generation and 10% consumed other alcoholic beverages.
• Individuals who reported to have consumed alcohol before noon were clustered under the second generation alcoholic drinks and chang’aa.

The study makes the following recommendations:

• Increased community education on the adverse effects of alcohol at the individual, household and community level.
• Enhanced enforcement of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2010 controlling the production, manufacture, sale, labeling, promotion, sponsorship and consumption of alcoholic drinks.
• Pro-active engagement of the community leaders in the campaign against alcohol and drug abuse in Central Kenya.

So on the first of July President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Members of Parliament from Central Kenya to lead the war against illicit brews in their constituencies.  The government banned the sale of second generation brews in the country in a bid to tame alcohol-related deaths. In a directive issued when he met MPs, Senators and Women Representatives from Central Kenya at State House, the president also revoked all licenses of bars and other outlets selling second generation brews in the region.  President Kenyatta said the fight against the illicit brew would begin in Central Kenya because it is the most affected.  The Mp’s were told by the President “as elected leaders, you know where and who is behind these brews. My phone will be open 24 hours this weekend. Call me when you need me.”  President Kenyatta mandated the MPs and other stakeholder to move from door to door closing all outlets selling illicit drinks and destroying those in the process of manufacturing and sale the drinks.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has suspended 367 alcoholic beverage brands as part of the ongoing crackdown on illicit alcoholic drinks.  In a statement issued by KEBS, it had written to all manufacturers to stop production of Potable Spirits until they are inspected and cleared by the Inter Government-Agency team. Everyone was warned that county commissioners and police bosses found taking bribes to permit the sale of the alcohol will not be spared.  There was information that some chiefs, police officers, KRA and KEBs officials were working with the producers of these brews and the crackdown on illegal brews will continue countrywide without bias.  Kirinyaga County was singled out as the most affected in Central Kenya saying most factories are located there.  17 factories involved in the manufacture of second generation brews have been closed down.  As with anything, there is a backlash and people not wanting to abide by the new law, that was literally introduced and implemented overnight.  Some bar owners in certain counties have hidden their second generation brews in homes to avoid being nabbed by police.  Others have resorted to mixing the brews in single containers to prevent officers from identifying them.  MP’s have called the government to extend the crackdown on illicit brews to homes as several incidents have found that they have nabbed several plastic containers hidden in residential houses and have been told some people are consuming mixed brews which are more dangerous than the ordinary ones.  Warning residents against drinking alcohol sold in jerry cans as more homes will be searched.  The government has banned at least 385 brands of second generation alcohol and 112 companies as it continues waging war on illicit brews.  The President was concerned that dubious alcoholic brands, most of them produced, marketed, sold and consumed in licensed establishments, were having a debilitating effect. In the past, some of these alcoholic drinks have been found to contain poisonous substances unfit for consumption.

But events since the since the order was given prove the overnight approach was not the best. Crowds led by politicians have gone on the rampage, destroying private property and looting.  Their operation generally involved breaking into buildings, destroying what in the crowds' estimation are illegal drinks, and harassing those involved in the trade.  Unfortunately, in such situations, there have been reports of deaths, violence, and destruction of well-known alcoholic brands, some manufactured by multinationals, far-removed from the poisonous ones the authorities have been warning against.  The presidential directive has also been misinterpreted to mean the closing of all bars and targeting legitimate local investors in the alcoholic drinks industry.  More than 1.2 million liters of illicit brews found in bars have been poured since the directive.  They have moved from one trading centre to another confiscating all second generation brews and so far, brews worth million of shillings have been destroyed with the help of residents.  Property valued at millions of shillings, including brewing equipment at Mzizi and Croton plants, went up in flames as the huge crowd destroyed thousands of liters of the brews.  In Kericho, 5,000 liters of locally brewed traditional brews were destroyed over two days.  Hundreds of people were dragged to court, business premises destroyed and thousands of liters of alcohol poured down drains as leaders and residents heeded President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive to rid the region of the menace.  A Nyeri principal magistrate fined 130 people 400KES (5 AUD) each or eight days in prison.  It has been found that unscrupulous businessmen and women have been counterfeiting KEBS quality marks by using already used bottles of established manufacturers to package their illicit products.  In order to help fight the issue of counterfeit products, KEBS is now in the process of implementing a solution that will deliver new secured marks complete with a track and trace capability. Each secure mark will have unique features that are difficult to counterfeit and also can be confirmed by consumers using their mobile phones by sending a text.

As always, there are repercussions of a directive.  The other side of the coin, so to speak.  Investors under the banner of National Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya (Nabak) are preparing to seek legal redress over the loss their businesses have suffered, courtesy of a Presidential directive on war against ‘killer brews’. The association that comprises of East African Breweries Limited (EABL), Kenya Wines Agencies (KWAL), African Spirits Limited, Keroche Industries and London Distillers wants the government to compensate for the loss and destruction of their legitimate business that is now losing an estimated 100KES million daily. That’s 13.5 million AUD per day. 

Needless it has all settled down now.  Beer and Wine shops have applied for licenses, and as all things, people forget, new issues come up and people move on.  The directive was issued back in July and it is now October.  I was shocked to see a premises 3 buildings down from me was destroyed at the height of the drama, it was literally torn down, besser block by besser block and now there are just tin sheets, a burnt out area and bricks everywhere.  Even now 3 months on, nothing has been resurrected there.  Eric’s Beer and Wine guy, Boris, is still waiting for his license, but he is now back open selling sodas and water, but no alcohol at this point.  There has been an increase of alcohol purchases at the local retailer Nakumatt.  You can see groups of men walking in together, selecting a small bottle of ‘first generation’ alcohol and before they are even out of the shopping centre they are all swigging from the bottle that they all chipped in for, as it costs a hell of a lot more than what they used to pay from their local ‘shop’ in their village. 

The BIG question is: has it worked? 

There were about 10 recorded deaths from people who went into withdrawals a week after the directive was issued.  I really don’t think the government had thought about the aftermath of taking a substance away from people who have depended on it for years, overnight, like magic it was gone.  I’m sure the dependant people didn’t think it was magic, and the government was not properly prepared for the fallout, to have a plan in place to help.  There are now places where people can go to seek help now and detox, so what seemed initially a very left field move, may just help the country in the long run.  Knowing Kenya and her people, where there is a will there is a way, and I am sure second generation is available somewhere.  There are a few second generation spirits that have been approved, but only to be sold in bars, by the glass, which is 40KES (.52c AUD).  It’s not possible to buy this type of alcohol in a bottle in the hope to curb people getting smashed, and some are not as lethal, content wise, so more needs to be consumed to get the same buzz, and then money becomes an issue for some people.  It is a vicious circle really, but when it affects a country, a population, so much, something had to be done.

Time will tell.