Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru has ordered the closure of all bars in the county.
Waiguru said that bar owners will now undergo fresh verification and licensing process.
“The first thing I want to say here is, these people arrested have no licenses. We revoked their licenses they went to court and are now operating on a court order. This particular person did not have a licence because I decline to issue them. They however still operated because they had a court order.
“All bars in Kirinyaga county have been shut down from today and a new process of veryfyinmg and licensing them should start. The county government of Kirinyaga under the leadership of Anne Waiguru has withdrawn all the licenses. Whether you have a license or not today all bars have been closed.
Waiguru further said that those who had had been taken to court before for failing to pay for their licenses or selling illicit brew stand no chance of being given new licenses.
“We won’t be sitting down and watch our children, fathers get killed because of a few greedy people,” she said.
Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru orders for the closure of all bars awaiting a new process of verification pic.twitter.com/laHrbylJrq
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) February 17, 2024
Waiguru was speaking during the mass funeral of those who succumbed to illicit brew in the county.
Her directive comes after that of interior CS Kithure Kindiki who announced a crackdown on bars in the villages.
Kindiki ordered county enforcement officials to shut down bars in Kirinyaga. He further said that the crackdown would be continous.
“I want the country to know that unlike in the past when we have had incidents like this and then the government comes in and announces an operation for three months for two months for six months.
“We are not going to withdraw or scale it down. So we don’t expect short fixes. It’s not a two-month operation, six months, one year, or two years. We are going to stay on this operation as long as the problem exists,”
