Thirty-five people, among them police officers have been arrested in the ongoing crackdown on sale and manufacture of illicit brews in Kirinyaga County. 

The crackdown follows an order by County Governor Anne Waiguru, to start of the vetting of all liquor outlets in the region. 

Police also recovered Ksh.959,000 in cash and unknown illicit brew hidden in a manhole under the bed at Ngomongo village, where Josephine Karioko Muchira, owner of Holiday Inn Pub was arrested and her store shut down for alleged manufacture and sale of illicit brew.

Karioko was found in possession of over 100 liters of illicit brew with fake Kenya Bureau of Standard (KEBS) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) stamps. 

Kirinyaga County Commissioner Hussein Allason Hussein has said the bar closure order issued by Governor Waiguru has been enforced to allow a vetting exercise. A multi-agency team has been formed to undertake the bar vetting exercise, and Hussein has called for cooperation from all stakeholders.

“We have done an operation and I want to confirm that all bars are closed except for a few who want to play cat and mouse games. Because of fear that there still could be poisonous drinks out there, the bars will remain closed until when vetting is complete,” he said. 

Hussein added that all civil servants who operate liquor outlets have been identified and would not get licenses for their facilities. 

“Ours is to make sure our people remain safe. We are also rolling out a process where we are going to look for illegal manufacturers. We have arrested many and our officers are doing everything possible to make sure they are brought to book,” he said. 

County Executive Committee Member for Sports, Culture and Social Services Dennis Muciimi said the verification process commenced on Monday with 20 ward multi-agency vetting committees being tasked to undertake the exercise.

“These committees will conduct physical verification of all alcoholic outlets to determine whether an establishment meets the criteria of licenses as stipulated in Kirinyaga County Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2014,” he said.

Muciimi assured bar owners that the exercise will be done in an open and transparent manner to ensure those who have complied with liquor licensing regulations are allowed to reopen. 

“We urge all alcoholic outlets owners to be physically present in their respective premises to pave way for verification exercise,” he added.

The CEC said the vetting team will visit all alcoholic drinks outlets in their respective wards to undertake the exercise.

Bar owners will be required to provide valid 2024 applications receipts and 2023 liquor licenses and warned that those who fail to show up for the exercise will be deemed to have exited the business.