A 19-year-old secondary school leaver will have to find an alternative way to finance her college education after release from police custody.
The woman was arrested for brewing, possessing and selling of illicit brew within Nakuru. She had admitted in court that she indeed was in the illegal business of distilling and selling illicit brews to raise university fees when she appeared before principal magistrate James Mwaniki two weeks ago.
A probation report presented in court by Nakuru county deputy probation officer Grace Abukusu revealed that the woman scored a B- in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and had been selected by a local university to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education.
According to the report, the young woman who was arrested at Nakuru’s London estate engaging in the illegal business, had been selected by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service for the course.
The woman was charged with four counts of manufacturing, possessing, and selling illegal brew after she was found with five litres of chang’aa and 20 litres of kangara. She shocked the court when she said that she had moved from her rural home in Lugari, Western Kenya to her aunt’s place where she was forced to learn the arts of the trade.
“I was forced to learn to brew chang’aa to raise fees because my parents back home in Lugari cannot afford to pay college fees. I want to continue with education,” she had told court.
The report proved her claims, further ascertaining that she needed support to pursue her academic dreams, a fact that led to her release from custody on Friday. The court warned her against engaging in the illegal business, asking her to find an alternative way of raising the funds.