Cartels in agencies frustrating efforts to eradicate killer brews

Rift Valley, Kenya: The full scale of the level of corruption and greed that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people has emerged with revelations officials knew about the sale of toxic liquor in the Rift Valley but did nothing.

And as this came to light, government officials involved in regulating the alcohol industry converged at a crisis meeting in Nairobi yesterday in which more damning information emerged.

In Nandi and Uasin Gichu, where the death toll from poisonous alcohol hit 30 this week, officials told The Standard on Saturday that the alarm was raised two months ago after locals complained of serious symptoms including diarrhoea.

But samples sent for tests were returned only last week – after several people had died – but bizarrely showed the drinks were safe for human consumption.

Officials, including those with insider knowledge of the goings on in the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA), said the Rift Valley case is just one of the emerging evidence of gluttonous cartels working with the full knowledge of state agents tasked with ensuring drinks are safe.

A representative of the Government Chemist Leonard Waweru stunned the meeting when he said that out of 227 samples of alleged adulterated alcohol tested, only three had traces of methanol, the toxic chemical that has been found in many lethal drinks. But out of 73 victims tested in May, 68 of them were found to have consumed drinks with a high percentage of methanol, Waweru said.

This begged the question: just why were the brews not being discovered and seized before they kill citizens?

Other regulatory agencies represented at the meeting called to find ways of stopping the brews were the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

It was one of the strongest signs yet that the State would crack the whip after years in which people have died from such drinks but have been met with little action.

The seriousness of the matter was evident with the presence of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku, who strongly criticised the agencies and said the deaths must stop.

“For lives to be lost and alcohol addiction to grow day by day, it means somebody somewhere is not doing their work since we have policies in place and institutions are well staffed. Somebody must take responsibility,” Lenku warned.

He added: “It cannot be that no one is responsible for loss of lives or corrupt businesses that are going on. We have had enough of it...this must stop.” More than 100 people have died since May. In the Rift Valley deaths, it emerged that Nacada and KEBS sat on information that would have stopped the deaths if acted on.”

In Sif Matata, then Deputy County Commissioner in Uasin Gishu County and his team established a pattern of complaints from people who would consume certain types of alcoholic drinks.

This led to an operation that got the drinks off the shelves and submitted samples to Nacada’s Eldoret office for testing.

Tested samples

They were handed to the regional manager identified as only as Mr Wangai who consequently submitted to administration manager at Nacada Amos Warui.

“That time however, nobody died. We did not however receive any feedback from Nacada to date. Yet, these are the same products that have caused so many deaths in that area,” said Matata, then Deputy Commissioner and current Pokot County Commissioner.

On Tuesday this week Warui said the results for the tested samples had just been received from KEBS and all the drinks were found to be fit for human consumption.

Officials said such illegalities have been sustained by a cartel of prominent and powerful individuals who are officially employed by the tax payer to protect them from poisonous drinks, but on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) said the rate of deaths clearly showed cartels were in charge.

“Looking at the pattern of illicit alcohol trading and looking at how widely it is spread, there is absolutely no doubt there is a heavy cartel in operation. To move such volumes of illicit alcoholic drinks requires a lot of planning, coordination, concealment and so on. It’s absolutely clear there is a cartel and a huge one. We need to reform our institutions massively and a coordinated approach to by all relevant agencies to defeat these cartels,” said Tobiko.

The network of the cartel extends from KRA where facilitation of clearance of the poisonous Methanol is done. Methanol is tax free and although poisonous, it is used by illegal manufacturers of illicit brew because of its affordability.

Nacada Chairman John Mututho said it has become impossible for even for the institution to function efficiently citing sabotage from cartel networks.

“The biggest cartels are in Central Kenya and its very big money. They have their sympathisers in high government offices and law enforcement agencies from the police, national government offices, Nacada and others,” he said.

Different senior officers across government who spoke to us on condition of anonymity said illegal traders import and successfully clear methanol disguised as ethanol by carefully deleting letter ‘M’ from the container so that the products appears to be ethanol.

Yesterday, Lenku said: “We are unhappy with your performance. You cannot say out of over 300 samples of alcohol taken, only three of them were found to have methanol while people continue dying due to the same methanol. This is unacceptable. I will not proceed from there because the rest is commonsense,”Lenku said.

 

An ordinary test, said one of the top officers at the government chemist, cannot distinguish methanol from ethanol. “This requires and detailed test which KRA, KEBS and many other people do not bother about,” he said. Former Nacada Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Kimani said wiping out illicit brews from Kenya became impossible even during her watch.

“There has been tremendous interference from senior people in government, who should have assisted in the fight against illicit alcohol. There is a cartel in the system and at the authority and this is why I think nothing can be done or will be done to get illicit alcohol out of market,” she said.

Information is hidden

Even when a government officer like former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura ordered for an audit of the some alcoholic drinks, no action was taken despite the results indicating over 98 per cent non-compliance of all the drinks tested.

“I very much doubt that the document ever got to Amb Muthaura. There was a lot of sabotage on the way, some people in the authority and the system itself would ensure that crucial information is hidden for whatever reason. Nothing would be done after that, even when we made clear recommendations. It is a very big and strong cartel,” said another source close to the goings on.