Brewer backs crackdown on counterfeits

Investors in the alcoholic drinks industry have thrown their weight behind the ongoing inter-agency crackdown on illicit drinks.

They are optimistic that given the goodwill the operation enjoys across the country, it will weed out unscrupulous traders in the lucrative sector.

Purity Kariuki, the MD of Zheng Hong limited said blatant counterfeiting remains a concern to stakeholders.  

She said Zheng Hong, whose popular brands include Dallas gin, Jambo extra vodka, Dallas brandy, Blue Waves vodka and Sweet berry vodka, supports efforts to restore sanity in the industry.

She said the company, which is among those already visited by the inter-agency, is keen on value addition to expand its market share.

"We need to combine efforts to win the war against counterfeits," she said in Nairobi.

Early this month, the Ministry of Interior announced a new phase of the anti-illegal brews operation will initially last for four months and will target 25 counties.

When the crackdown was first launched by the government in 2015, stakeholders cried foul after hundreds of them were targeted and driven out of business when the real culprits were never arrested or charged.

Central region and Nairobi bore the brunt of the crackdown which was then carried up by politicians, the police and the local administration.