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Curb alcohol abuse but don’t wreck industry
While alcohol and drug abuse are the scourges of the nation, with devastating health and other adverse effects, the uproar over the new measures to curb the menace is understandable. Alcohol is a huge industry that employs millions, and traders are worried about their looming huge losses as a result of stiff restrictions.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) have unveiled sweeping reforms under the National Policy for the Prevention, Management and Control of Alcohol, Drugs and Substance Abuse (2025).
The government argues that the measures, including a ban on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets, online platforms, and public transport, are necessary to combat the rising alcohol and drug abuse, particularly among youth.
However, alcohol industry players, especially manufacturers and retailers, including bar and restaurant owners, have strongly opposed the policy, describing it as discriminatory, unrealistic, and economically destructive.
But Nacada CEO Anthony Omerikwa has clarified that the newly launched policy is not a law, but a framework to guide future reforms. Though there is a need to curb abuse, the strict rules will disadvantage traders, restaurant, and bar owners. Traders opposed to the new alcohol control rules claim that 1.3 million jobs in the value chain are at stake, as the government vows to implement the proposed measures.
Nacada sparked the latest outcry by coming up with strict measures, including raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 years, in a renewed effort to fight the abuse among youth.
According to Nacada, 13 per cent of Kenyans aged 15 to 65, or about 4.7 million people, consume alcohol. The highest prevalence is among those aged 18 to 24. Those addicted contribute zero to family, community, and national development.
Efforts to control alcohol and drug abuse are welcome, but they should not be about criminalising a legal enterprise and killing businesses. The State and stakeholders must reach a reasonable compromise.
