Government to curb mnazi drinking at Coast

By STANLEY MWAHANGA

KENYA: Producers, sellers and consumers of palm wine at the Coast have opposed plans by the government to regulate the popular drink.

 Mnazi, as palm wine is commonly referred to, has faced many hurdles in its struggle to gain recognition as a legal drink. Many people from Kwale to Lamu enjoy the drink because it is affordable unlike bottled beer.

The naturally fermented drink, popular among native Coastal communities, has often been regarded as an illegal alcoholic drink and is associated with most social ills among family members.

Cases of men abandoning their wives and families at the Coast are not new. The milky sap has been accused of being a home wrecker, enslaving married men who spend most of their time in drinking dens with other people’s wives.

Apart from being a source of income to coconut tree farmers across the coastal belt, mnazi is also the only traditional beer known to the locals.

Mnazi enthusiasts have argued that it is part of their culture because of the role it plays in cultural ceremonies like weddings, child naming and birthday parties.

“Mnazi is part of the Giriama heritage without which part of the community will not be there and that must always be considered by authorities seeking to legislate on its use,” says Ramadhani Kadzo Mwinyi of Kaloleni.

But according to the Kenya Coconut Development Authority (KCDA), new stringent laws are to be introduced to deal with mnazi abuse by consumers.

The laws are meant to regulate consumption and bring sanity to the palm wine business.

KCDA Chairman Titus Kadere Tunje argues that the proposed laws will also help protect the traders, mostly women, from police harassment and also curb the trade of illicit brews within the consumption dens. “We don’t want to breed an alcoholic nation. People should work,” Dr Tunje says. “Mnazi is legal and the laws are only meant to ensure that safety measures and public health and sanitation is properly adhered. We don’t want to see cases of police arresting people claiming they are selling illicit brew,” Tunje says.

But Mr Tunje’s remarks have not gone down well with locals living in Makuti villages in the North and South Coast regions. They say the cultural drink was consumed during funeral ceremonies or used to offer the gods sacrifices when communities were faced with hunger and starvation. We found Mr Mwamdudu Kazunga chatting with colleagues in a makuti village at Kikambala as they siphoned their mnazi in turns from a traditional gourd (Mboko)”.

Licking his lips, as he passed over the Mboko, Kazunga frowned at the proposed laws and demanded to know why locals were not consulted before the laws are enforced. “We are responsible people who do our work and only partake this drink responsibly and late in the day before we retire to bed,” said Kazunga, looking disturbed by the news. Officials argue that mnazi is no longer a cultural drink because it is the cause of many social challenges in the region.

Despite the drink being deeply rooted in tradition, the once respected brew is under serious abuse. As early as sunrise, men can be seen strolling to their palm wine joints (mangwe), ready to have the intoxicating brew. Some men have been known to abandon their jobs to drink till late in the night. Daniel Mangi, the County Representative of Bamba Ward in Kilifi County, where palm wine is mostly consumed and abused, says the drink mostly affects the youth.

He agrees with the decision taken by the KCDA, acknowledging that many youth who consume palm wine have lost their morals. He adds that their capacity to develop the region has reduced considerably because they are always under the influence of mnazi. Mr Mangi says nothing has been done over the years to deal with the problem, which he attributes to the cause of early pregnancies and high number of school drop outs in the region. Boys as young as 16, engage in palm wine drinking sprees after abandoning their studies.

“It has affected many youth in Kilifi, destroying their mental health and many do not think about their future or even strive to work,” said Mangi. His plea is that drinking be left to the older generation and not strong men who are supposed to engineer development.

Leaders at the Kilifi County Government, are also concerned that the brew has molded a society filled with slobs who prefer spending their time in mangwes instead of working. “Moral dignity has escaped our youth and a society of lazy individuals has cropped up,” Mangi says.

Tales of men squandering their entire salaries and pension on the local brew are rife, with wives lamenting that their men usually redirect their savings to the drinking dens. Excessive drinking escapades have left a trail of misery, broken homes and frustration in families’, with men