Brewer accuses NACADA of overstepping mandate on alcohol regulation
East African Breweries Limited (EABL) Corporate Relations Director Eric Kiniti has accused the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) of overstepping its mandate on alcohol regulation.
In a TV interview on Friday, August 15, 2025, Kiniti said that alcohol control is constitutionally a county government function, and NACADA’s recent push for sweeping national restrictions amounts to removing that mandate from counties.
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“Alcohol regulation is a county mandate, and NACADA, to some extent, is overstepping that mandate, trying to remove it from the counties,” Kiniti said.
Counties at odds with NACADA’s proposals
Kiniti’s remarks come as NACADA pushes for new national alcohol regulations under its 2025 National Policy for the Prevention, Management, and Control of Alcohol, Drugs, and Substance Abuse.
The proposals include raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21, banning supermarket and petrol-station alcohol sales, prohibiting home deliveries, and restricting advertising and celebrity endorsements.
County leaders and industry stakeholders have expressed strong opposition, warning that such measures could cripple the hospitality sector, lead to massive job losses, and fuel the illicit alcohol trade. They argue that counties are best placed to handle licensing and regulation, as outlined in the Constitution.
Former NACADA Chairman John Mututho strongly criticised the government’s proposed alcohol regulations, saying they are out of touch with reality and are designed to punish Kenyans who are already suffering.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, July 31, 2025, Mututho said the tough new proposals from the Ministry of Interior are not practical and will only create more hardship instead of solving the problem of substance abuse.
“These rules are just meant to hurt Kenyans who are already struggling. You can’t just wake up and declare that all the alcohol stock in the market is fake. If you asked me, like we said in 2015, supermarkets and other such places should operate like bars and only open for alcohol sales after 5 pm,” he stated.
NACADA has since clarified that the proposals are not yet law, noting they remain at the recommendation stage pending public and parliamentary consultations. However, the push has intensified the debate over the limits of NACADA’s role and the preservation of county autonomy.
