More than 2,500 litres of illicit brew was nabbed at Katani location in Athi River sub county on Sunday.
The alcohol was seized during a crack down by chiefs in bushes along River Athi at Ngelani village for twelve hours, following an outcry by women who claimed they had lost their men to the brew.
They included chiefs Jane Mbithi (Katani), David Kilonzo (Mlolongo) and assistant chiefs JohnMatheka (Ngelani), Mary Mulu (Kamulu) and John Mutua of Katani sub location.
The operations that were led by Mlolongo Assistant County Commissioner Kennedy Keraro seized ten 200 litre drums of Kangara and several 20 litre jerrycans filled with the brew under fermentation.
Addressing the press at the village shortly after the raid, Keraro said the chiefs were led to the brewing dens by women who were protesting that their husbands could not meet their family obligations because they were always drunk at the brewing dens.
“There have been lots of complaints from several women from this region especially young and newly married ones that their men were never home because they are always drunk, they claim their husbands cannot meet their marital responsibilities including fulfilling their conjugal rights,” said Keraro.
Keraro said the brewing dens were reportedly identified by a herdsman in the village after his cattle became drunk when he took them to a water point within River Athi.
“A herder from the village reported to the women after his cattle got drunk leading to death of a cow at a water point along River Athi where distillation of illicit brew takes place, an incident that prompted him to report the matter to the women who were eager to know sources of illicit alcohol which their husbands consume making them ineffective,” said Keraro.
Victim Elizabeth Nduku said there was too much local liquor in the village.
“Our village has a lot of illicit brew, we collect our children who are husbands to our women each and every morning drunk and sleeping by the road side. Every woman in the village especially the young ones are complaining about their drunkard husbands, that is why we decided to find out where the illicit brew comes from in this village,” said Nduku.
“Majority of women don't see their husbands at night, they do not get their conjugal rights while the few children in the village do not know their fathers. There are no longer many young women giving birth in this area, Ngelani Primary School has only 13 children in class one,” said Nduku.
The seized liquor was poured while the drums and jerricans were destroyed by the river side by the chiefs with assistance from members of the public under supervision of the assistant county commissioner.
Keraro warned that the crackdown of illicit liquor in the region will not be halted.
“We cannot allow criminals dealing in illicit brews in this area, we will arrest them. They have managed to escape arrest of the culprits today but we will pursue them soon. I advise them to quit the village if they cannot quit the business,” said Keraro.