Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Monday, June 12, accused Officers Commanding Stations (OCSs) of working with County Commissioners to facilitate the movement of drugs within their jurisdictions.
Addressing a multi-agency engagement of the Upper Eastern Region in the fight against illicit brew at Chuka's Kirubia Stadium in Tharaka Nithi County, Gachagua gave the OCSs ten days to end the menace or quit their positions.
Gachagua told the officers to choose whether they will serve the people and obey Presidential commands or jeopardise their jobs by taking bribes from alcohol and substance peddlers.
"We will work on a joint strategy together to end illicit brew and substance abuse in Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Marsabit, Embu, and Isiolo Counties. We remain firm in our resolve to make our youth useful in Nation building again," Gachagua stated threatening to fire any OCS who will be found complicit.
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The Deputy President claimed that a host of corrupt county commissioners and OCSs were threatening junior officers while conducting operations to rid the region of alcohol and drug abuse.
He warned that the government had placed elaborate systems and structures in place to identify security officials disobeying lawful orders from his office as well as that of the Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Kithure Kindiki.
"After serving for more than 15 years in the Service, I came to a logical conclusion that everything within the security sector is established at the officers of County Commissioners and the Officers Commanding Stations," Gachagua stated.
The DP, therefore, gave the officers a June 22, 2023, ultimatum to weed out alcohol and drug abuse within the areas they controlled.
"Failure to which, you have to go home and tell your children that you are unable to do the work that you're trained to do. We need to do this before the Finance Budget 2023 is signed into law so that we may know the number of public servants that we have on payroll," Gachagua warned.
The DP also unveiled a number of measures to be taken, including increased enforcement of licensing laws and more investment in rehabilitation programs, to ensure that the menace was done away with.
He also explained that the National Security Council had passed a resolution to increase awareness campaigns among the people in Central Kenya.
Gachagua stated that the problem of alcohol and drug abuse is a serious one and that it is having a devastating impact on the lives of people in Central Kenya.
"God has a way of punishing people. If you take bribes for drugs to spoil other people's children, there's a God in heaven. You too have children.
"When traffic police get a signal to go home, they collapse. They are used to getting money from the road every day," Gachagua assured the officers.
Among the challenges that Gachagua identified included the fact that the illicit brew trade is a multi-billion shilling industry and that the brewers are often well-connected and well-protected.
He also lamented that during Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime, the enforcement of licensing laws was often difficult because there was a lack of resources and a lack of political will.
He claimed that Uhuru's government underfunded and understaffed rehabilitation programmes in a manner that led to awareness campaigns being met with resistance since people were reluctant to talk about the problem of alcohol and drug abuse.
