Multi agency team assessing alcohol manufacturing sites in Kisumu

Source: Capital FM Kenya
Author: Ojwang Joe

KISUMU, Kenya, Mar 22 - A multi-agency team from Nairobi has pitched a tent in Kisumu County to visit and assess second generation alcohol manufacturing sites as part of the ongoing efforts to address the scourge of alcohol and drug abuse in the country.

Kisumu County Commissioner Benson Leparmorijo says the team had already visited a distillery plant at Muhoroni and will continue with the exercise until end of business today.

"The team is being led by a senior officer from the Office of the President and the task is to visit and see for themselves what is happening in these manufacturing sites," he said.

The team is made of officers from the Ministry of Interior, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Anti Counterfeit Agency, National Authority for the Campaign against Drug Abuse (NACADA) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Leparmorijo explained that the team is looking at all aspects relating to the manufacturing of alcohol and necessary steps taken for compliance.

"We must have a KRA officer to ensure there is compliance as far as payments of government revenue is concerned," he said.

The CC says the team will visit warehouses storing unsold alcohol to see if they have KRA stamps.Speaking to the press on Friday in his office, Leparmorijo says officers will not relent in the crackdown.

"Let me assure you that this crackdown will not die down, it will continue for the long haul," he said.He says government officers running bars must heed to the call to close them down or face arrests.Leparmorijo announced a police officer from Kisumu East who was running a bar even after the directive from the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki," he said.

"An officer went ahead to operate his bar despite the crackdown, the county security team has seized up the matter for appropriate action."

He appealed to the public to join in the war against illicit alcohol and report such cases for quick action.