NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16 — Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore has termed the proliferation of illicit brews a national crisis, lauding renewed efforts by government to reverse the damage.
Bore who spoke on Monday during the launch of the National Positive Parenting Program (NPPP) noted that efforts to contain the menace in the past have been sabotaged by officials with vested interests.
“While serving as Woman Representative (2017-2022) I once asked a DCC (Deputy County Commissioner) why can’t we stop the liquor in the village where I come from and he told me there is a big person in government who is selling these things,” she remarked.
“If we allow this to continue we will lose our generation of parents that will mentor their children. I am very passionate about this topic, not as a Minister of Labour but as a mother,” she stated.
Bore’s remarks at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) come against the backdrop of a report by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) which revealed a monumental increase in drug addiction.
NACADA’s report covering five years ending 2022 indicated the minimum age for initiation into drugs and substance abuse had fallen to 6 years.
Addiction crisis
The national survey on the “Status of Drugs and Substance Use (DSU) also suggested one in six Kenyans (4,733,152) aged between 15 and 65 were struggling with drug abuse.
The report published on May 12 ndicated one in every three males (3,783,854) aged 15 – 65 years and one in every sixteen females (949,298) were using at least one drug or substance.
Western region recorded the highest prevalence of alcohol use at 24 per cent in a newly released Status of Drugs and Substance Use in Kenya.
NACADA listed Coast (13.9 per cent) in second place followed by Central at 12.8 per cent.
The survey also revealed that Western region had the highest prevalence of of chang’aa use (11.4 per cent) followed by Nyanza (6.3 per cent) and Rift Valley (3.6 per cent).
The report shows Nairobi region had the highest prevalence of manufactured legal alcohol (10.3 per cent) followed by Central (10.0 per cent) and Eastern (8.4 per cent).
It further indicates that Central region had the highest prevalence of potable spirits (4.1 per cent) followed by Coast (3.2 per cent) and Rift Valley (3.1 per cent).
The findings suggested one in every eight Kenyans aged 15 – 65 years (3,199,119) were using alcohol.
“Alcohol continues to be the most widely used substance of abuse in Kenya with findings pointing towards increasing demand for cheaper and readily available alcoholic products especially chang’aa, traditional brews, and potable spirits,” the report reads in part.
