The Alcohol Beverages Association of Kenya (ABAK), a lobby group for alcohol manufacturers and importers, reached out to Health CS Mutahi Kagwe seeking intervention on control of bar operations.
In a letter to the Ministry, the brewers sought Kagwe's assistance in the introduction of standards operating procedure guidelines be availed to govern how bars are supposed to operate amid the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.
“It was expected that the standards operating procedures would be published after the presidential address to allow compliance with Covid rules within bars and pubs. However, the procedures are yet to be published. In the absence of the protocols, Abak has observed unsafe socialising behaviour by a few establishments that are operating with little regard to the Covid-19 guidelines," the letter reads in part.
Ahead of the reopening of bars on September 28, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Health to work with the alcohol industry to have self-regulation safety guidelines that would ensure the safety of alcohol consumers.
After engagement with the ministry and alcohol manufacturers, bar owners committed to cut sitting capacity by half under social distance rules, have contact free-bill payment and restrict drinking at the counters.
“You can now go and drink alcohol,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said at the end of a Covid-19 National Conference at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
However, a spot check by Kenyans.co.ke on bars along Kiambu Road and Bamburi in Mombasa showed that self-regulation was not happening as bars operated at full or above capacity.
Many of the drinking spots operate until around 10:40 p.m. when patrons make the 'last call' - thereby going against the President's directive that the facilities should close at 10 p.m.
Speaking in Malindi on November 2, CS Kagwe highlighted bars and political rallies as areas of concern in regards to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus.
The move from the brewers to have the Ministry of Health step in to control the masses that flood to their favorite bars came just two days before President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to meet the various stakeholders to decide on what measures need to be taken to curb the rapid community spread of the virus.
President Uhuru has already hinted at another lockdown with bars and recreational facilities perceived as easy casualties of such a directive.
This comes amid a spike in Covid-19 cases that has seen the country lose 100 people in the last week.
The president said the decision to ease the containment measures was a result of a remarkable improvement in the country’s infection rate of 4.4%.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that for a country to re-open, it should have a sustained infection rate of 5% for two weeks.
However, the infection rate over the month of October 2020, has been averaging at 15% with daily infection rates sky-rocketing.
