A man suspected to have consumed a toxic brew at the Kangai area in Kirinyaga County on Friday morning collapsed, adding to the long list of bad liquor victims.
The victim was rushed to the Kandongu dispensary with blurred vision symptoms.
The hospital is just a stone throw away from where Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki was holding a security meeting, at Mwea-West sub-County headquarters. The two institutions are separated by a fence.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki greets deputy county commissioners and chiefs when he arrived at Kandongu, the headquarters of Mwea-West Sub-County in Kirinyaga.
Photo credit: George Munene| Nation Media Group
Residents said the man entered a bar at Kangai village and took the brew and later went to work in Kandongu.
He was transferred to Kerugoya referral hospital after his condition worsened as some residents who thronged the dispensary protested, saying the patient should not have been transferred without being visited by Prof Kindiki.
Shouting in protest, the residents lamented that it was shocking toxic brews continued being sold in the area.
The incident comes barely two days after another person died and two others lost their sight after consuming toxic brew at Kandongu village.
The three were taking brew believed to have been laced with poisonous chemicals on Wednesday evening when they started vomiting and complaining of stomach pains.
They hurriedly went home but were rushed to Kandongu dispensary by relatives and neighbours when their condition worsened. One of the men lost his life while undergoing treatment.
Last week, fifteen other people perished after taking a poisonous brew at Kangai village.
Those who perished are scheduled to be buried on Saturday after a joint interdenominational funeral service.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who condemned the incident, ordered that Kirinyaga county commissioner Tobiko Naiyoma and senior security officers be recalled to Nairobi to pave way for investigations.
Mr Gachagua said an inquiry will be opened and those found culpable will be fired and charged in court.
The trader denied the charge and the court ordered that he be remanded in prison until March 7 when the case will be mentioned.
