Crackdown on illicit brews intensifies

By RENSON MNYAMWEZI

Taita-Taveta , Kenya: Police in Taita-Taveta County have stepped up the fight against illicit brews after Interior and National Coordination Secretary Joseph ole Lenku put on notice illicit brewers and drug dealers in the country.

Seven people among them four women have been arrested and more than 700 litres of illicit brews netted in a major crack down on the menace.

Police said the suspects were arrested in Mwatate and Taita districts regarded as major brewing points for the bootleg liquor that had been blamed for the rising cases of crime among other alcohol-related deaths in the region.

“We have lost two people in Wundanyi division as a result of alcohol related deaths in the past one week. The operation to flush out the brewers will continue until the area is rid off the menace,” said a senior police officer.

Taita OCPD Samson Kiine confirmed the raid and said the suspects would be taken to court.

The police officer and provincial administration officials said the war against illicit brews was still going on and anybody found engaging in the vice would be dealt with according to the law.

“We have intensified raids in the region to stamp out the vice that has adversely affected development in the region,” said Taita DC Njenga Miiri.

He said they have devised new strategies of fighting the brews in the region.

Mr Miiri said one of the ways they had adopted was talking to the brewers and drunkards to engage in meaningful development.