Coast residents protest crackdown on traditional Mnazi wine dens

MOMBASA: Residents in parts of Mombasa and Kilifi counties are protesting the manner in which raids on illicit brews are being conducted.

They are particularly irked by the way the government has criminalised taking of popular palm wine, locally known as Mnazi.

Following the raids in slums and remote villages in the two counties, residents who consume Mnazi claim the police have now declared the traditional brew tapped from coconut illegal.

In Mombasa, elders in Mzizima slums termed raids on Mnazi as sacrilege and attack on Miji Kenda culture. They argued that palm wine cannot be placed in the same category as second generation liquor blamed for killing people in Nairobi and  Central Kenya.

“The coconut tree from which Mnazi is tapped is a blessed tree. Have you ever witnessed one being hit by a falling palm frond, or a ripe coconut fruit? That has never happened because the tree is sacred. Pouring the drink is a curse,” said Joseph Katana, a resident of Kiziwi slums in Tudor Wednesday.

COMMITTING SACRILEGE

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“I don’t see anything wrong with Mnazi. It is not an illicit brew. I have never seen anyone die from drinking Mnazi. The drink is naturally tapped and therefore free from any chemical,” said Peter Kazungu.

James Mureithi who uses the traditional drink castigated the chiefs for pouring down Mnazi.

“Who are the chiefs and police to determine the hygiene levels of the drinking dens. That is the work of the county public health workers,” said Mr Mureithi.

However, Tononoka Chief Mwinyi Abdulaziz defended the exercise saying although Mnazi was not illegal, those selling it in slums have not met many legal requirements, including observing authorised drinking hours.

In Kilifi, the crackdown took a nasty twist when police officers encountered four of their colleagues drinking Mnazi at a den outside authorised hours on Tuesday.

Instead of arresting and charging the officers who were in official uniform, the crackdown team allowed the four flee and detained only civilians. And when the civilians were brought to court at Kizurini in Kaloleni, the officers they had been drinking with were the ones processing their charge-sheets.

Kahindi Yaa, a village elder who was part of the government team that carried out the swoop said they encountered the four security officers drinking together with locals.

The four were identified as two Regular Police attached to the Kaloleni Police Station and two officers from the Kenya Prisons Service.

AUTHORISED HOURS

“What is happening is very unfair. Why would civilians be arrested and the officers who we can identify were taking Mnazi in the same den go scot free,” Yaa protested outside the Kizurini Law Courts.

But Kaloleni sub-county Deputy Commissioner Fred Ndunga said that the security officers found at the drinking den will not be spared.

“I have forwarded their names to their respective commanders so that disciplinary action can be taken against them,” Ndunga said in his office.

And on the Mnazi brew, the administrator said it was not an illicit brew but consumers and sellers had flouted drinking regulations, which specifies hours for sale and consumption.

“Some people converge at the drinking den as early as 6:00am. They should keep to the legal drinking hours, which is between 5:00pm to 11.pm on weekdays and 2:00pm – 11:00 pm on weekends,’’ Ndunga said.

He added that during the raid, they visited a total of 79 premises, which included 40 bars, 30 Mnazi dens.

“We arrested 31 people and impounded 46 cartons of brew and six rolls of bhang. We destroyed 500 litres of local brew known as Matingasi and 1,500 litres of Mnazi wine,” he said.