Gachagua Calls Out Police Running Bars, Arresting Criminals While Drunk
He further exposed how some officers are more under the influence than the criminals they are attempting to arrest while enforcing law and order.
Marvin Chege 
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Monday, May 29 brought to the limelight cases of police officers operating bars as their side hustles to their primary job, particularly in the areas of their jurisdiction.
The DP who was speaking during a meeting of leaders and other stakeholders from the Rift Valley in Nakuru County on ending illegal brew and drug abuse, pointed a finger at a section of police officers who are not only opening bars in those areas but making an extra living from protection fees.
He further exposed how some officers are more under the influence than the criminals they are attempting to arrest while enforcing law and order.
Police officers in action during a past arrest. /PEOPLE DAILY
"We are very happy with police officers who are doing their job, but we have a serious problem with a few of them who have a conflict of interest, who have opened bars in the areas where they serve.
"We have a problem with police officers who are collecting protection fees. We have a problem with police officers who are supposed to go and arrest drunkards but they are more drunk than the people they are going to arrest," he stated.
Gachagua went on to narrate a case study involving some government officials who were among half of a congregation who attended a thanksgiving service where President William Ruto was in attendance. This, he added, earned him an embarrassing rebuttal from the Head of State.
"We went to Kericho for a Thanksgiving service on a Sunday at 10 am. Half the congregation was drunk.
"The likes of the Senators were looking down...so, upon asking, all the station commanders have a bar and are taking protection fees so this problem cannot end. So the President asked 'in this country, am I the President?' and I reassured him that he is the President. He asked who the deputy was, I kept quiet, with shame and embarrassment," he lamented.
As a consequence, Gachagua threatened to crack down on police in Rift Valley who fail to clear illicit brew and drugs, adding that the officers know those peddling illicit brew and drugs, which are threatening to wipe out a generation of youth.
In a light-hearted moment, the DP shared a past ordeal where he was driven deep into alcohol addiction before becoming a saved Christian.
“The President, Professor Kindiki, and the rest of us, none has a problem with alcohol. I must admit I used to drink a lot before I got saved and since I stopped drinking my things have been very good, that is how I am the Deputy President.
"I ask those who drink to consider dropping it and maybe your things will get better,” Gachagua said.
He clarified that the country did not have issues with authorized brands selling alcohol in the country; that he was going after those selling illicit alcohol disguised in legitimate bottles.
“None of us has a problem with alcohol, but we have a problem with poison put in bottles and described as alcohol,” said Gachagua.
The DP further warned Kenya Kwanza leaders, in that same angle, against breaking the law, vowing consequences and no respite for anyone caught in sketchy activities.
“If you are a leader please don’t embarrass yourself by doing things that are not right because you embarrass everybody. It is a difficult situation to arrest a governor or a senator, but they must be arrested if they break the law,” Gachagua added.
Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika suggested measures that will generate bigger sanctions for those selling illicit brews, further noting that the current fines meted out to those engaging in the sale of illicit liquor are not doing enough to curb the vice.
Sample of alcohol bottles in a liquor shop. /FILE
The National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA)'s national survey on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use (DSU) in 2022 which covered the last five years, from 2017 to 2022, on Friday, May 12 revealed that Kenyans countrywide aged 25 - 35 years had the highest prevalence of lifetime use of alcohol at 22 per cent, with males recording a higher prevalence of lifetime use of alcohol compared to females.
Alcohol was named among tobacco and cannabis as prevalent among Kenyans living in Nairobi aged 15-24 years despite cannabis itself being a controlled and illegal substance in Kenya.
The Nairobi region had the highest prevalence of lifetime use of alcohol (20.9 per cent) closely followed by the Central region (17.5 per cent).
