Kill-me-quick: How Nairobi keeps toxic chang’aa flowing

    Police pour illicit kangara brew       Photo: Collins Kweyu\Standard

It is about four years since chang’aa consumption was legalised to stop consumers from dying or becoming impotent after drinking adulterated moonshine.

The Alcoholic Drinks Control Act was aimed at regulating the production and sale of traditional brews that were considered unfit and unhygienic.

However, the standards set in the Act have never been met especially in Nairobi slums where brewers and consumers  have made mincemeat of the Act, with concerned authorities left clueless – save for knee jerk occasional arrests.

The Nairobian found out that Mathare Valley slums is the main source of chang’aa – a brew whose production, sale and consumption stages were to drastically change following the repealing of the Chang’aa Prohibition Act and coming in force of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act.

People are dangerous

The Nairobi River, which cuts across the slum meandering into Korogocho and Gitarimarigo, is the main source of distilled water, never mind the filth. Brewing in Mathare is also done downstream in Korogocho and Gitarimarigo, where a police officer said he required serious reinforcement for a successful raid.

“You can’t just venture into that slum with three or four armed officers and expect no resistance. Those people are dangerous, we need a large team officers backed by vehicles,” said the AP officer.

Kawangware’s Congo and 46 areas were listed by security agents as among the leading spots popular with chang’aa. A senior officer who did not wish to be named for fear of facing reprisals from his superiors admitted that chang’aa production was common.

“We as security officers cannot be able to reduce it because the brewers do it in secrecy but we are trying our best,” said the officer

Chang’aa from Mathare, Korogocho, Gitarimarigo and Kawangware is distributed to other slums like Lunga Lunga, Maili Saba, Mwengenye, Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Kibra, Kiambiu, Kware and Soweto, among others.

A policeman in Lang’ata admitted that people are still stuck in the past – brewing and consuming chang’aa contrary to guidelines in the Act.

“The standards are too high, people have the licenses but do not meet the standards like that of being required to set up a factory,” said the officer.

His opinion is that the task of establishing chang’aa distillers is not an enterprise to be left to the hoi polloi found in slums, but established bodies like the National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug abuse (Nacada) which is conducting feasibility studies over the same proposal.

The agency announced last year it will partner with county governments to construct chang’aa distilleries to enable low income earners get clean and affordable liquor that meets set Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) requirements.

At the moment, those intending to invest in the business must make application to the District Alcoholic Drinks Regulation Committee, which issues a licence after an inspection at the brewing site, which must meet requirements of the occupational health and safety regulations.

The applicant must have proper equipment for brewing. The premises must have enough competent staff. But a walk into many of the slums paints a totally different picture. The grog is distilled along highly contaminated and polluted rivers.

 In Mathare slum, rich individuals invest in its production, but never come into the slum. They just collect the money through brokers. Brewing is a source of livelihood for many people with women and children also playing part.

“There is a big man by the name Njenga. He is the one protecting the brewers. He never comes to the slum. He has just employed people to do for him the job,” said Dan Otieno, a community leader.

The water is often contaminated with feaces, condoms, underwear, industrial discharge, decomposing dead rats, cats, dogs and pigs. Brewers adulterate the drink with additives like mortuary embalming fluid, jet fuel, battery acid, formaldehyde, fertiliser, sisal juice or methanol.

DDT pesticide

In the process, dangerous amounts of poisonous substances like lead, copper, mercury, banned DDT (banned pesticide) and cobalt are added to the drink and absorbed into the body of the drinker.

Yet adulteration should attract heavy penalties. Any person who adulterates or dilutes an alcoholic drink commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding Sh10 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.

And the vogue mode of ferrying the brew is through motorcycles, commonly known as boda boda. Merchants of the liquor prefer boda boda because operators easily evade police checks. The other advantage of using motorbikes is the ease of navigating through narrow paths in the slums where health standards are not adhered to.

The Act requires that the liquor be packed in bottles – but that is never the case, the drink is served from jerrycans and jars into small amounts known as “shots”.

Because the drink is clear, consumers think it is clean. Its potency manifests in scenes of drinkers lying semi-conscious in drainages or on roads and footpaths. Dealers do not care about health warnings as stipulated in the Act.

Chronic consumption of chang’aa causes many physical, psychological, emotional and mental complications.

It is made up of dangerous chemicals that can lead to physical and psychological dependence and eventually addiction, according to Kutoka Network of Catholic Parishes in Nairobi in a 2003 memorandum to then Nairobi major Joe Aketch.

The organisation, which called for the repealing of the Chang’aa Prohibition Act, said the law was not only destroying the lives of many families in informal settlements, it was the leading cause of early death, illness, unemployment, poverty, crime, domestic abuse, prostitution, Aids and idleness.

First and last raids

According to the Act, such messages as, ‘Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health’, ‘Excessive alcohol consumption can cause liver cirrhosis,’ and ‘Excessive alcohol consumption impairs your judgement’, ‘Do not drive or operate machinery’, are supposed to be displayed on every packaging containing the drink.

Nairobi AP Commander Francis Mburu admitted challenges his officer are facing while trying to reduce the production and consumption of drink. He said they have difficulties in distinguishing whether the chang’aa meets all the health standards.

“But that which is distilled along rivers we assume to be unhygienic. People have to brew it from inspected buildings. We are, however, trying to reduce the chang’aa problem through the RRI (Rapid Response Initiative) in which officers have set targets. We have frequent raids with the latest being in Gatwekera (in Kibera), where a lot of liquor was impounded,” Mburu said.

NACADA chairman John Mututho warned that the campaign against unlicensed alcoholic drinks will not spare anybody, be they influential individuals or not.

“It is public health at stake, but not Mututho. The Kenya Bureau of Standards, Kenya Revenue Authority, National Intelligence Service and public health officials are involved in this war. This is a digital government and Mututho will not be compromised,” he warned.

Soon after being appointed Interior Cabinet Secretary, Joseph ole Lenku hit the road running when he led an operation to get rid of chang’aa in Mathare.

Twelve people were arrested during the operation, that was the first and last of a high profile operation targeting distillers who do not adhere to laid down standards.