Nacada: Kiambu drunkards ‘blow Sh 40 million on alcohol daily’
The National Agency of Campaign Against Drugs Abuse (Nacada) chairman John Mututho has said that Kiambu County spends Sh14 billion on alcohol annually.
He further stated that a recent research revealed that half of adult population consume liquor.
Muthutho said that whereas there are 861,000 registered voters in Kiambu county, there are over 450,000 drinkers who spend Sh300 each on booze everyday which is more than Sh40 million daily.
He said the decline in production and quality of coffee and tea in central Kenya region should not only be attributed to changes in global markets and emergence of real estate alone but also to the high level of alcohol consumption.
“More than half of labour workforce is lost as alcohol abuses reduce productive population into zombies while income from farming and other economic activities is spend in booze at the expense of farm inputs and development,” He added
The Chairman was speaking at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi County on Friday at closure of a three day national conference on alcohol and drugs abuse.
The delegates disagreed with NACADA over who should chair the inter-agency committee liquor licensing in counties.
LICENSING
NACADA board members rooted for county commissioners and their deputies in sub-counties to chair the committees as representatives of national government.
Mohamed Barre, a NACADA Board member representing the Interior ministry argued that county commissioners and security commanders should be in-charge of secretariat that enforces policies.
He said they are the officials disciplined by interdiction or dismissed altogether for failure to tame drugs abuse when there are tragedies causing massive deaths.
Barre said in a situation where people take drinks in a licensed bar and then die, the county government officials take off and blame is squarely on national government officials.
Mathare Sub-county liquor licensing committee member, Patrick Lumumba, said the committees should be headed by county government officials.
Lumumba said in Nairobi’s outfit, Chief officer of Trade is the secretary and the county’s medical officer of health as member.
He added that the sub county administrator chairs the meeting. Licensing officer in the sub county is the secretary while police commanders and deputy county commissioners are members.
His proposals were adopted by the delegates. The three day conference ended yesterday with adoption of various recommendations that will see the tobacco act of 2007 enforced.