60 per cent of all alcohol sold in Kenyan stores is illicit, the chairman of the Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya (ABAK) Eric Githua has said.
Speaking during the K24 TV morning show, Githua stated that the majority of the alcoholic beverages in the country were questionable and that the proposed tax law could exacerbate the problem.
In the new proposed law, the spirits excise tax is set to shoot by 79 per cent. The current rate is Ksh356 per litre of spirit and if passed this could reach Ksh640.
“The tax proposal is quite high and the government should consider staggering its implementation over a couple of years,” Githua said.
The association’s chair also added that the high cost of legitimate alcohol was directly linked to the proliferation of illicit brews that continue to claim lives in the country.
Eric Githua: We have a major issue with illicit alcohol. Last year we realised that up to 59% of alcohol sold in Kenya is illicit. Six bottles out of 10 are illicit.#NewDawn pic.twitter.com/X3Dm2f1cDZ
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) May 23, 2024
Kenya’s alcohol problem
National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) data of 2023 shows at least 4.7 million Kenyans aged 15 to 65 use at least one substance, 3.2 million use or abuse alcohol, 2.3 million others use tobacco, 1.7 million take a cocktail of multiple drugs while 964,737 and 518,807 others use Khat and cannabis respectively.
“Data shows that the average age category for initiation of tobacco, alcohol, khat, cannabis, prescription drugs, cocaine and heroin was 16 to 20 years,” the report reads in part.
In the report, among secondary school students, alcohol was the most abused substance, used by 3.8 per cent of the learners. It was followed by prescription drugs at 3.6 per cent and khat, tobacco and bhang in that order with a prevalence of 2.6, 2.5 and 1.8 per cent.
This comes against a backdrop of an intense campaign by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua against illicit alcohol particularly in the Mt Kenya region.
“We are almost losing an entire generation. Nobody will be allowed to sell poison in the name of alcohol to our young people,” Gachagua noted during one of his campaigns against alcoholism,” Gachagua said while speaking in Roysambu.
“There is no pride in leading a drunken nation, people with broken families.”
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