Mututho, Keroche in war of words

By Cyrus Ombati and Anthony Gitonga

Thika, Kenya: A row has erupted between local beer manufacturer Keroche Breweries Limited and National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse  (Nacada) Chairman John Mututho following a raid at an outlet in Thika town.

Mututho joined police in a raid on a Thika beer depot where over 300 crates of beer suspected to be counterfeit were confiscated.

In a statement to newsrooms, Keroche Breweries CEO Tabitha Karanja accused Mututho of “defending counterfeiters” and seeking to shift the blame to Keroche in furtherance of an “anti-local manufacturing” script. Ms Karanja said Keroche had written a letter to Mututho notifying him of suspension of a contract with the distributor, who was found with suspected alcoholic contents.

“There was a court order issued last month against raiding the premises yesterday but Mututho went ahead to do the raid other than allow the police to do their job,” she said.

The firm told the former Naivasha MP to follow the law as set out to ensure that all the counterfeits were eliminated, adding that Keroche was a respected entity whose efforts to fight counterfeits are internationally recognised.

“Not everything should be about playing politics but service delivery to the offices that some officers have been entrusted to hold,” she said.

“Keroche Breweries Ltd who for years have had solid policies in place and remain vigilant over the sanctity of their products, last week after thorough investigations, informed the authorities of some counterfeit activities in which one of our distributors in Thika was involved,” read the statement.

Un-inspected products

But yesterday, Mututho denied that he was targeting major brewers in his fight against illicit brews.

Mututho said Nacada planned the recent inspection of an outlet in Thika town as they had information that the distributor of a leading beer manufacture was selling uninspected products. “It is our mandate to conduct inspections on all outlets selling alcohol and neither do we ask for permission when doing our job,” he said.

He added the distributor was found with alcoholic products that were deemed unfit for human consumption. “We have taken samples from the various brands. Once the results are out, we will make them public as well.”