Poverty link in lethal brew deaths

In a remarkable about-turn, Kenyan political leaders and a clergyman are now calling on the government to take a lead from its East African neighbours and legalise the production and distribution of traditional brews as part of its poverty eradication policy. Their call comes in the wake of a highly publicised incident in Nairobi’s sprawling Mukuru slums last week in which an adulterated concoction left 140 people dead, tens blinded and more than 500 hospitalised with complications. Parliament on Wednesday said the lives of poor Kenyans could be saved and alcoholism reduced if traditional brews were legalised, as is the case in Uganda and Tanzania. Most African countries have legalised traditional brews such as chang’aa. Bishop Otieno Wasonga of the Anglican Church of Kenya argued that two traditional brews, busaa and chang’aa, were the only ones affordable by poor Kenyans as well as a source of income for some of them. Noting that the church does not condone alcoholism, the Bishop however argued that if the government believed that alcohol was good for the people, then it should not be selective but should legalise these traditional brews. The legislature concurred with Bishop Wasonga, saying that if the drinks were legalised, hygienic standards could be assured, while the government could at the same time earn revenue. Teetotaller President Daniel arap Moi, however, disagreed. Speaking during a visit to the city’s extensive Korogocho slums where chang’aa brewing is commonplace, he reiterated that “factories manufacturing illicit brews will be closed down” to rid the country of “doomsday” drinks. He blamed the brew deaths on opposition MPs and the clergy who campaigned for the repeal of the notorious ‘Chiefs Act’, which empowered local chiefs to raid chang’aa and busaa distilleries and drinking houses. The victims of adulterated alcohol are almost always the poor because there is no cheap alternative beer on the market that compares with “kumi kumi” (literally 10-10 in Swahili), which is sold at 10 Kenya shillings (roughly $US 0.12) a glass. Typically, the victims in last week’s incident comprised the poor, single parents, the unemployed and the under-employed whose pastime is drinking chang’aa, a potent brew made from fermented maize or sorghum flour which is distilled. The killer brew was laced with ingredients such as methanol and formaldehyde, an embalming fluid. For most of these people, chang’aa is the only affordable drink. The basic national minimum salary of Kshs.5,000 a month is a drop in the ocean in so far as goods and services are concerned. At most, such an amount lasts two weeks for a family of two. “We are in the business, not because we like it,” one civil servant said. “We have to supplement our lean pay packets.” Luckily this dealer did not get his supplies from the Mukuru “distiller”. The legislators argued much in the same vein, saying that the legislation against traditional brews in 1998, ostensibly to rid society of drunks and to save lives, was a futile exercise because “our people are poor and have to eke a decent or indecent living at whatever cost”. At that time, Parliament blamed several cheap locally distilled liquors following the death of 80 people believed to have drunk an illicit brew laced with methylated spirit. The following year, 19 people were killed after taking an adulterated brew. The alcohol content of some of the brews has been found to be as high as 90 percent. There are more chang’aa dens in the country’s poor neighbourhoods than officially acknowledged. Even the cheaper brews by Kenya Breweries Ltd and other large distillers, which retail at about Kshs.36 a bottle (about US $0.45) are still way beyond the means of the vast majority of Kenyans. The country’s per capita income is estimated at US $280, with about half the population living in absolute poverty.