NAIROBI, MARCH 11 – Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has vowed to fight alcoholism with all his powers even if it means losing his seat. He says illicit drinks have ruined lives of Kenyans terming it as “poison”.
Speaking in a Church Service on Sunday at Roysambu, Nairobi, Gachagua says that he won’t allow alcohol traders to sell “poison” in the name of alcohol, adding that the government has recalled license of alcohol producers with immediate cessation of production for 21 days.
He ordered that alcohol producers to apply afresh for license.
“We won’t allow anybody to brew poison in the name of alcohol and sell it to our children. All these factories which were selling alcohol have been asked to stop production for 21 days [and] apply afresh,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua’s move to intensify the fight against alcoholism comes days after Kenya was ranked among the countries with high rate of alcoholism in Africa.
The DP revealed that some individuals which he didn’t mention have been scaring him to stay away from alcohol industry. He said he is ready to sacrifice his position if need be in order to end alcoholism.
“Some [people] are trying to scare me, … that because I am an elected person they can chase me away the way they did to [John] Mututho. If I will loose this seat because I have refused to let people sell poison to our children,[then] I am ready,” Gachagua declared.
He added that the Kenya Kwanza administration wants to lead an upright and respectable country adding that there is no pride in leading a drunken nation with broken families.
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“We want to lead [an] upright, respectable and family people. That is the pride of leadership. There is no pride in leading a drunken nation [with] broken families. There is no pride in leading people who cannot work. We want to lead decent and productive people,” Gachagua reiterated.
Meanwhile, Nairobi county Governor Johnson Sakaja has ordered closure of 120 liquor shops in Nairobi which operate close to bus station.
