As the wise once said, when the drumbeat shifts, the dance must follow. Here we are, stuck in old rhythms while the music of Kenya’s alcohol crisis plays louder and deadlier than ever. On June 24th 2025, the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) tabled sweeping recommendations aimed at curbing alcohol abuse .These include raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 , banning online alcohol sales ,restricting alcohol outlets near schools and churches and outlawing celebrity endorsements .
On the surface, these proposals appear noble, seeking to shield young people from premature exposure and potential addiction .However, behind the moral framing lays a deeper, more urgent question: Are we targeting the real enemy or merely dressing up policy bandage while the real wounds fester beneath.
Out here, fifty shillings is enough to make someone drunk .In dusty towns, estate corners and even inside seemingly normal pubs, illicit alcohol flows freely .Dangerous concoctions brewed in backrooms ,passed off as legitimate brands and consumed daily by hundreds ,if not thousands .These drinks are not only unregulated but are often lethal ,damaging lives and communities .
It’s quite alarming that enforcement seems more focused on visibility than actual intervention .On a daily basis; one is likely to encounter unmasked police officers in full uniform casually collecting bribes from pubs selling unlicensed or counterfeit brews. Nevertheless ,when it comes to peaceful protests, suddenly that’s where they draw the line .That is when some magically find their masks, others conveniently misplace their uniforms and the rest come fully geared ready to shut down voices asking for accountability .
It is no secret that some bar owners have taken matters into their own hands ,brewing and packaging their own kegs ,beers and spirits in house.These counterfeit brews are then sold under the illusion of legitimacy. Yet, when the occasional crackdown comes, police are seen moving door to door ,not to shut down these operations but to collect bribes .The cycle continues .The alcohol kills and the producers walk free.
Meanwhile ,NACADA’s new proposal would criminalize the very systems trying to do thing the right way .Take The Bar by Diageo , for example ,an online alcohol platform that delivers legit ,tax-paying ,regulated products directly to consumers .It is a platform that has created numerous jobs ,boosted digital commerce and offered a safer ,traceable alternative to walking into a shady liquor store. With this ban, platforms like these would be forced to shut down while the underground alcohol market thrives untouched.
While at it, we should ask ourselves, is the problem really age, or is it what’s being consumed? The danger isn’t the 19 year old ordering a bottle of branded whiskey or gin online. The danger is the counterfeit spirit that costs less than a matatu fare, served in a dirty glass behind a pub curtain and ends up blinding, crippling or killing someone’s father, mother or sibling.
These same regulations want to ban celebrity endorsements and influencer partnerships a blow to Kenya’s fast growing digital economy , where content creators and entertainers earn a living through brand collaborations .So instead of empowering responsible and peer led influence, we want to silence the very voices that could make moderation cool and awareness normal .
The truth is ,the rich get richer ,the poor drink poison and were pretending a drinking age hike will fix it .We don’t need symbolic restrictions but instead we need to go to the root of the problem :Shut down the illegal breweries ,regulate what’s being sold not just who’s selling it ,rein in corrupt enforcement officers and support platforms that do things right .