Sip of death: Anxiety as counterfeit drinks flood clubs and spirits outlets

A week ago, a group of Pulsers was celebrating a friend's birthday. It was a house party where everyone was supposed to bring their own bottle of choice.

They had all sorts of concoctions and as the hours ticked by, with everyone losing themselves in the fun, few were still keen on their drink of choice. Whatever was available passed.

Once the drinks run out at around midnight, the contributed cash and sent one of them to the wines and spirits shop to bring a refill. When he came back, he had dozens of quarter-litre bottle 'vodka' drinks, much more than what the cash could have ordinarily afforded. Little did they know the 'vodka' drinks were counterfeits.

Two hours on, everyone who had taken the drink started feeling dizzy. Most started complaining of weakening joints. Their knees could hardly support their weight. Their vision became blurry and before they knew it, they all had a running stomach. As the situation worsened, they called for help and were rushed to hospital where they got admitted.

After investigations, it was discovered that what was made to appear as vodka was in fact a homemade toxic illicit brew laced with methanol.

Forget homemade brews like chang'aa that have cost hundreds of Kenyans' lives, wine and spirits stores as well as entertainment spots are now stocked with fake bottles of the popular whiskey brands that sometimes are sold for lesser amounts than the original.

"There is a wines and spirits shop in South B shopping center that sells such drinks. The other day, I went there and ordered a 750ml bottle of Jameson and was asked for Sh2,000 instead of the usual Sh3,000 retail price. It was well sealed with a Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS) seal but when I opened it, I was shocked to see that it had impurities," says Muli Sheddy, a South B resident who operates a movie store in the area.

Hashem Khalifa recalls the day he and his two friends almost ended up in hospital after consuming a counterfeit whisky brand in Nairobi's Umoja estate. The three bought a bottle of their favourite liquor at an outlet for Sh1,200, but an hour after consuming it they were all gnashing their teeth with their hands pressed hard on their bellies.

"One of the guys had suggested that we get a bottle from a nearby store on our way to the club. It was all fun until one of the guys started complaining of stomach pains but we all dismissed him saying that he had indulged on an empty stomach. We later noticed that the drink tasted different and had a chemical-like taste but it was already too late because we were all in pain. We immediately discarded the drink and vowed never to shop at the place," confides Khalifa.

Gibson Kawa is no stranger to Nairobi's nightlife having been an online gig promoter but the vicious claws of counterfeit hooch didn't spare him either. After regaining consciousness in Lang'ata, Kawa was welcomed by the site of two skimpily dressed ladies by his side. He could not tell how he got there despite his residence being in Kiambu. The mammoth of a hangover was not making things any better and without waiting to find out whether the duo was alive, he took off.

"All I recall is me telling the cab guy to drop me at Club1824 after taking drinks in the central business district. I later woke up to find a beer bottle in hand in an apartment I did not know. All my money, phones and personal documents had been stolen. I was just lying next to two girls I did not know," says Kawa.

"The sharp pain in my stomach saw me go to a clinic where I was diagnosed with poisoning. I keep thinking I was lucky to have made it alive," he adds. He suspects that the drink was either spiked or was a counterfeit.

Purity Wambui had for a long time been into the concept of going out to the bar and drinking alone, maybe waiting for a hunk of a guy to pursue her, until a bad drink experience taught her otherwise.

"I'm a spirits person. On this day, I went to a joint along Kimathi Street and ordered for half a bottle of my favourite drink at Sh600. At first sip it tasted different and after a few glasses, I started puking," says Wambui.

Most of these drinks are usually packaged at people's residents. It is the most popular brands that move fast that are counterfeited. Ideally, they have a chain of people who collect empty bottles of popular spirit brands that they recycle by packaging their counterfeit drinks in, after which they just add the label and the product is ready for the market.

These people also use fake seals to make the packaging look authentic.

It is in small wines and spirits shops, mostly in small towns and estates, that these drinks get their market. They are also sold in middle class pubs.

Last weekend, one of the Pulse writers witnessed this as a close friend sipped her drink. While taking a sip, she noticed white residue inside the drink. The bottle was passed around a table as the occupants stared in shock, each trying to figure out what the residue was. A waiter was summoned he only said the club was not responsible for the packaging before taking the drink away for replacement.

Lennox Nzaro of East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) explains that as a company, they liaise with police in case there is claim of counterfeit drinks from EABL, which he added is not a common occurrence.

"If it was to happen that there are fake EABL products in the market, the only measure we can take is liaise with police to investigate such claims because we do not have an internal agency to fight it," said Nzaro, who markets Smirnoff vodka, one of the many EABL products.

"There are many health issues that manufacturers of counterfeit drinks expose drinkers to but many times, the public does not want to think of these risks," He added. "These drinks are not up to standard when it comes to quality and the health implications are dire," he adds.

In 2012, there was widespread fear after Viceroy, a popular brandy, was found to have counterfeits circulating in mass around Kenya. The outcry led to a number of customers keeping off the drink.

In 2014, alcohol manufacturer London Distillers wrote a letter to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), urging the institution to put tighter measures to fight counterfeits that were said to be originating from Tanzania.

"We wish to inform you that big quantities of spirit is being imported and smuggled into Kenya from (a distillery in Arusha). The same spirit is being used to manufacture counterfeit products of our brands mostly Meakins Vodka and Kenya King in 250 milliliter size bottles," the letter read.

Kenya's fight with bootleg and adulterated liquor has led to hundreds of deaths, attracting the attention of global institutions such as Spirits Europe, which called for more stringent measures.

"The recent, tragic methanol poisoning in Kenya is there to remind us how important the issue is," said Paul Skehan, Director General of Spirits Europe in early 2014 after 80 Kenyans died in Central and Eastern regions.

He was responding to statistics by the World Health Organization Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health that a quarter of the world's alcohol is non-commercial.

Kenya Bureau of Standards has tried to sensitise the public about genuine drinks, but these unscrupulous dealers have fought back, printing fake KeBS stickers and conning Kenyans.

Liquor companies have also tried to come up with better features for their drinks to distinguish them from fakes, but this information, which is mostly on print media, does not seep through to the public.