How crackdown on illicit brews helped reform female brewers in Elgeyo Marakwet

Reformed illicit brewers celebrate after graduating from a course in Uasin Gishu County.  [PHOTO: MICHAEL WESONGA/STANDARD]

By MICHAEL WESONGA

Elgeyo/Marakwet County: Anita Kurui is among 46 reformed large-scale illicit brewers of Komongu Self-Help Group in Elgeyo/Marakwet that have opted for alternative business skills for survival.

The 32-year-old mother of three leads fellow graduands in celebratory song immediately after being awarded with a certificate at Ukweli Training and Development Centre in Ilula, Uasin Gishu County.

It has been five days of intensive training on economic empowerment focusing on poultry and dairy management, appropriate technology, business skills, kitchen, time management, pastry and bread-making.

“I learnt the ropes of the illicit brew trade in 2006 and slowly graduated through the ranks out of desperation since I had to fend for my children because my husband and I lacked a source of income,” she narrates.

National disaster

Mrs Kurui was selling 100 litres of illicit brew a day before the Jubilee government declared alcoholism a national disaster and ordered a crackdown by the Provincial Administration on illicit brewers.

But even before the Government acted, area Governor Alex Tolgos had said alcoholism in the county was a disaster and declared war on the sale of illicit brews.

“The constant chase by Government agencies had not only become unbearable but also led to numerous losses making the trade unviable,” she explains.

Kurui says the police, with assistance from neighbours opposed to their dealings, would easily trace their products underneath the ground usually at the doorsteps, in the shamba or next to the river.

“Apart from not selling the brews, I incurred numerous losses from the destruction because the ingredients: maize, finger millet and sugar that I had acquired on loan had to be paid for,” she adds.

And Gladys Sawe, a mother of seven, was producing 210 litres of liquor in a month and continued to scale up production.

“It gave us some money, but the hide-and-seek games with authorities made this a risky venture. It was a gamble which was not worth the trouble it caused,” she says.

After three meetings among brewers, they resolved to call it quits.

Kurui now banks on applying agricultural business skills gained in the training to entice customers to buy sour milk (mursik in Kalenjin) vegetables while hoping to grow her chicken venture to a worthwhile enterprise.

The County Assembly Speaker Albert Kochei thanked the women for starting a journey of reformation and said it was a milestone towards avoiding deaths caused by illegal brew consumption.

Quit trade

“There is no one else who knows that you have changed other than yourselves because you would have killed an entire generation if you continued in that line,” he told them during the ceremony.

The Speaker also thanked the county commissioner for his enduring support during the implementation of the national government policy three weeks after enactment of a Bill prohibiting consumption of liquor in the county.

Kochei has vowed to help the women not just reform but also acquire sustainable ways of ekeing out a living with assurance that they have the area governor’s support.

“We are very clear on this. If it will make us lose votes in 2017, then so be it. We better lose the vote but save the people,” says Kochei.

Samwel Teimuge, a director at Empowering Lives Kenya where the women were trained says the women’s former customers would be their customers.

“But they should be ready to tell them sorry they have quit the trade and rise from where they are to an even better place because getting seed money will not be the challenge but their persistent resolve, since we are ready to help them draft proposals in order to attract funding,” he says.