Regulate illicit brew consumption, don’t ban it – Babu Owino

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has disagreed with the tactic being used in the fight against illicit brew.

He said the government should instead control the consumption of illicit brew and not ban its trading.

“I am not in support of the fight on the illicit brew. I support those selling illicit brew to control it so that it is not in excess,” he said.

“I can never fight those selling any illicit brew because it is what made me who I am. But we can control the consumption. How people use it.”

He spoke on Thursday in an interview on TV 47.

Babu recommended that the government provide jobs to discourage the making and trading of illicit brew.

“These women, the men, the families selling illicit brew, let them be given an alternative. They can be given jobs by the government,” he added.

The MP narrated how he was brought up in a household that survived on the sale of illicit brew.

Widowed when Babu Owino was in Class 3, his mother resulted in selling Chang’aa with her son’s help aiming at making a living.

He said they used to earn Sh300 for the 500 ml bottle. This meant they had to sell enough bottles for rent and fees.

He added that they could not afford to save.

The MP was born and grew up in Nyalenda slums of Kisumu.

“We are three in the family. I am the last born… Mum resolved to sell chang’aa to help us go through life. Through chang’aa we could get money to pay our bills, rent, and medicine which was mostly panadol, through chang’aa we could get clothing, food and education,” Babu Owino said.

In the campaign against fake brew and substance abuse consumption, DP Rigathi Gachagua ordered a nationwide crackdown on fake beers within 10 days.

The order issued on June 12, has seen the shutdown of more than 5,000 liquor outlets for noncompliance with legal framework.

Interior PS Raymond Omollo said Sh729 million had been set aside for operations in the fight against alcohol and drug abuse, part of which will go into constructing a model treatment and rehabilitation centre.