CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Isaac Nyangeri, Kenya, February 1999
THEME = SOCIAL CONDIT.
In mid-August, 1998, more than 80 people died after drinking a
lethal brew in Rift Valley Province.
The «lucky» ones turning blind
According to Mrs.Ndungu, matron at Kijabe Hospital where the victims were admitted, whatever was taken affected the optic nerve leading to loss of sight. The drink also interfered with the whole body, resulting in general body weakness.
One of those who went blind, Mr.Peter Njoroge, took the illicit brew on the evening of 18 August 1998. The following day, he could not go to work (he was a cleaner at a hotel) as he felt very weak. That was on a Wednesday. On the Thursday, he felt stronger and decided to go to work. When he arrived, he just «saw darkness».
The dangerous drink is siphoned from trucks on transit, and is said to be power alcohol which is meant for industrial production, not human consumption. According to a spokesman of a chemical and food company, power alcohol is not produced in Kenya. He says: «Since we stopped the production of power alcohol (in the 1960's when rich oil companies launched a campaign against it), there is no other producer of the product in Kenya, even East Africa. It can only be found in Brazil.»
Dr.Wako, Assistant Minister of Health, also explained that the substance could not have been produced locally, as it required fully equipped laboratories. He agreed that the drink must have been siphoned from tankers on transit. The spokesman said that the victims must have taken poison methanol which could be obtained from boiling formalin chemical used for preserving dead bodies. Reports of the diagnosis made by the government chemist, indicated that the substance was almost pure spirit whose concentration was between 95% and 98%. The Director of Medical Services, Professor Julius Meme, explained that the diagnosis was carried out on urine and blood samples taken from the victims. He said the samples had a very high concentration of methanol. (Methanol causes blindness).
In September, 1996, twenty-four people died after taking a similar drink in Muran'ga District, Central Province. The effects in both incidents were similar: blindness, general body malaise and vomiting. In both cases, some people regained their sight after some time.
In the wake of liberalising the beer market in the early 1990's, certain drinks' companies in Central and Rift Valley Provinces manufactured drinks which had serious consequences to peoples' health.
Penina Wanja lives in a village in Kiharu Division, Muran'ga District, Central Province. Together with other local women, she was extremely concerned about the amount of «bad liquor» circulating. She dared to raise this issue with the local chief. «Chief» she said, «this drink known as "kari kari" (one of the common brands) is completely destroying our men. I'm going to ask the government to ban it.» The drink in question was believed to impair the brain and other vital body parts such as the reproductive organs. The brew were quite cheap - Ksh 5 a mug. Other brands were sold in plastic bottles for either Ksh 10 or Ksh 15 per bottle, depending on the brand. Because of this, the drinks attracted a large number of consumers. Wanja took her case to a higher authority and the drink was banned.
But people did not stop drinking. In place of factory-produced drinks, traditional and/or illicit brewing took over. The most common of these drinks is known as «chan'gaa» which is a concoction of a number of elements. These traditional brews are found everywhere, so the danger is, Kenya is well on the way to becoming a nations of boozers.
Sad to say, many young people, both boys and girls are becoming slaves to the bottle.
END
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