Chaos befell a village in Tiaty, Baringo County after a Chinese Company distributed beer as part of its contribution to the drought-stricken area.
Chuanshan International Mining Company donated 300 bags of maize, 20 cartons of cooking oil and more than 20 cartons of a Chinese made beer as part of its corporate social responsibility.
The residents were excited to find out that the alcohol was part of the donations and that it would be distributed to everyone who wished.
Violence later erupted when some of the locals who were now drunk, started scrambling for food. Some also scrambled for cans of beer and ran into hiding to avoid sharing.
The chaos resulted in spiling of cereals that locals had been waiting to receive. Women and mothers were forced to contest with men in the scramble, to get a share of the foodstuff.
The Chinese firm's Director, Han Ke, had thought it was a good idea to bring alcohol as he knew that the residents loved it very much.
“Locals in this area love liquor and I saw it fit to include it as part of food donation to the hunger-ravaged villages. We also donated more than 300 bags of maize and cooking oil,” he told journalists.
Ben Todonyang, a resident, commended the company for its consideration to include beer in the donation.
“We are really thankful to get beer in this remote village. We have been hard hit by food shortage and the beer will come in handy as well so that we can enjoy ourselves and forget the myriad of problems,” commented Todonyang.
Tiaty MP William Kamket who also attended the food distribution exercise regretted that government's donations did not reach far-flung villages due to lack of fuel to transport them.
“We thank the government for the food aid but more than 500 bags of maize are still in the government stores in Chemolingot for lack of fuel to transport. The only food that reached the hunger-ravaged villages are those donated by well-wishers,” decried Kamket.
