How many families have been destroyed by alcoholism? I do not know. Do you? That seems to be the ostensible reason why the Head of Government summoned Mt Kenya Jubilee MPs to State House and had a frank and open discussion about the alcoholism that is destroying the youth of the House of Mumbi and their cousins. What transpired, bar one or two ill-placed leaks, remains a strongly guarded secret. Innuendo about marching orders remains just that: innuendo.
The aftermath of the State House finger-wagging is that there seems to be a determined zeal among the elected representatives of the Mt Kenya region to "stamp out the vice" as the more serious daily tabloids put it. Factories, backyard chang'aa dens and private homes have been raided and alleged contraband seized and publicly destroyed. There have been injuries, but there seems to be no let up in the raids.
The raids have had unexpected outcomes, though. Representatives of the Office of the President at the grassroots level, notably chiefs, assistant chiefs and policemen, have been "netted" in the raids. Their befuddled visages have been a particular source of mirth for many viewers of the nightly newsshows.
More entertaining has been the spectacle of some of the elected representatives running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. A particularly colourful member of a county assembly was on Sunday to be seen in the very same church the Head of Government was gracing with his pious self, contributing to the frothy condemnation of the Devil's Water. Unbeknownst to his coreligionists-of-the-day, this particular snake in the grass was also a significant investor in the distribution for sale of some of the beverages of death that the Head of Government had decided simply must go. The unmasking of the two-faced legislator was accompanied by much glee from the victims of his earlier zealous execution of the Head of Government's directive.
What has been baffling for many investors has been the criteria used to target established brewers, like Keroche Industries. No one can recall an instance in the past decade when Tabitha Karanjaa's growing enterprise has been accused of manufacturing products that were inherently harmful. Indeed, she has won national, regional and continental gongs for her entrepreneurial chops. Some of the tactics employed by more established players in the Kenyan alcoholic beverages sector betray a jealousy that might explain the mysterious and enthusiastic attention a certain Naivasha legislator has paid to Ms Karanja's factories.
This should be a lesson to the Head of Government. None of us is in doubt that his heart is large and largely in the right place. We will studiously ignore those who claim that his quasi-prohibition drive is led by the fear that Mt Kenya voters might not go to the polls in 2017 because they will be incapacitated by the litres of Devil's Water they will have consumed on the crucial day. But we must remind him that he is not always surrounded - or egged on - by friends. Some are like hyenas, waiting for the opportunity to snatch food from his hand - or his hand, if it is all the same with him.
These chancers have been responsible for the hit-or-miss record of his government. We know he is not daft; you do not win a presidential election in Kenya simply by pouring billions into the enterprise. But we know that in the maelstrom of executing his powers, he will not sweat the details; that will be left to his Cabinet and the coterie of "special advisers" that has grown around him. It is time he appraised their performance, especially on the political front. The liabilities need to be given the old heave-ho! and shown the door. It is that time of year anyway.
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