By Black Star News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
Anger is stirring up in Kenya over new political plans to control alcohol drinking and sales. If implemented into law, it would raise the minimum age for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21.
The initiatives would ban the sale of alcohol in supermarkets, restaurants and on public transportation. It would also prohibit the sale of alcohol online; restrict home delivery of alcohol; and make celebrity endorsements of alcohol illegal.
Kenyan authorities argue these actions are required to tackle the problem of alcohol abuse, particularly among the youth.
Many Kenyans are voicing their opposition to the proposals as ill-advised and likely to be harmful to the economy. If passed, only specially licensed shops and bars would be able to sell alcohol.
The proposals were unveiled by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada). They claim that, in a 2022 analysis, that one in 20 Kenyans, between 15 and 65, were alcohol addicts.
Following objections to their proposals, Nacada said that the plans were a “road map, not an enforcement issue” and that “Any proposal that requires legal backing will undergo a thorough law review process.”
Alcohol manufacturers and traders warn that if these recommendations become law that it could precipitate a disastrous calamity in the industry by increasing job losses along with making the illicit market more attractive and profitable.
The Alcoholic Beverage Association of Kenya (Abak) called Nacada’s proposed policy “exclusionary” and “unrealistic.”
Esteemed lawyer Donald Kipkorir said the plan to “ban the sale of alcohol in supermarkets, restaurants, public beaches, recreational facilities and petrol stations will kill the hospitality sector in Kenya. Tourism is driven by good food, alcohol and sex.”
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