Nacada plans to sue 21 alcohol firms

The National Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) will prosecute 21 alcohol manufacturers that presented fake quality licences two months ago in order to continue with operations.

The agency's chairman John Mututho told The Standard the firms presented it the bogus quality certificates during a verification exercise to purge out manufacturers of unfit alcohol and spirits, following the deaths of 68 people who had consumed alcohol laced with methanol.

"There are over 700 manufactures, but when we called for the health and Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) quality certificates, only a handful produced them. We published the list of 40 companies we believed had complied on the basis of these certificates in national newspapers," said Mututho.

Mututho was reacting to a letter from the Ministry of Health, which suspended the production of several alcoholic drinks a fortnight ago, just two months after Nacada had certified them safe for consumption.

The ministry, through a letter dated July 14 and signed by the Director of Public Health Kepha Ombacho, directed 76 alcoholic beverages manufacturers and importers to suspend production of their brands due to the withdrawal of quality licences by Kebs.

Among the firms whose licences are to be suspended is Africa Spirits Ltd that manufactures Blue Moon Vodka and Furaha Brandy and Moonwalk Investment Ltd whose most famous brand is Moonwalker Spirit.

The ministry's list of blacklisted companies contains 21 firms given a clean bill of health by Nacada two months ago.

Other companies affected are Tylex EA Brewers Ltd, Vinepack Ltd, Crywan Enterprises and Crystal World Agencies.

Nacada's Chief Executive William Okedi told The Standard he wasn't on duty when Nacada cleared the firms and directed us to Mr Enoch Onchwari who was acting CEO when the list was published.

Mr Onchwari could not be reached for comment, but Nacada Chairman John Mututho said the agency was aware of the ministry's letter and was preparing a more detailed report on all alcoholic brands.

"We are going to enlist the services of an international company that will test all alcoholic drinks using 343 parametres. It will be the most comprehensive test and will eliminate the problem of counterfeits," said Mututho.