The increased reports of underage drinking have led to the unearthing of a clever trick that Kenyan children are using to buy alcohol.
Reports indicated that teenagers below the legal drinking age-limit of 18 years have turned to online liquor stores to make their purchases.
According to the Nairobi City County Alcoholic Drinks Control and Licensing Board (NCCADCL) chairman Kennedy Odhiambo, students take the opportunity of school trips to order alcohol.
[caption caption="Students in police custody during a past incident"]
[/caption]
The over 546,000 online channels that sell alcohol in Nairobi make it easier for the children to beat the legal capping as the vendors do not regulate sales on age-limit.
Besides, some of the online liquor retailers promise to make the deliveries within less than 30 minutes which makes it convenient for the students to purchase alcohol.
The NCCADCL Board has now called for an amendment of the Nairobi City County Alcoholic Drinks Act of 2014 to regulate online liquor sales.
Odhiambo notes that the legal loophole has posed a big challenge in curbing underage drinking and sale of counterfeit liquor products.
The NCCADCL Board has noted that the law also doesn't provide a way to authenticate liquor products sold online making it a challenging task.
Mututho Law (Alcoholic Drinks Control Act of 2010) focused on reducing drinking hours in conventional outlets such as bars and pubs but overlooked the online segment, a gap that the teenagers are exploiting.
[caption caption="John Mututho - Alcoholic Drinks Control Act of 2010 is his brainchild"]
[/caption]
Following the disclosure, the board has now called for the creation of new policies to reduce youths access to alcohol online.
