Riggy G puts ‘corrupt’ village chiefs on notice
More than 100 chiefs and their assistants risk being sacked by the government by December 2023 for failing to manage the illicit brew menace in their locations of jurisdictions.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has directed Kithure Kindiki, the Cabinet Secretary for the Interior and National Administration, to start compiling lists of chiefs who will be sacked.
Speaking in Nandi county, the second in command said the government will not tolerate chiefs who are sleeping on their job as illicit brew continues to ruin the lives of Kenyans, especially youths.
Mr Gachagua said the targeted administrators have failed to tame the trade in illicit brews in their locations.
“By December this year, we are going to sack more than 100 chiefs for failing to eradicate illicit brew in their regions. We cannot afford to continue destroying the future of young Kenyans at the expense of lazy chiefs,” stated Mr Gachagua.
Also read: Five times actress Gloria Moraa courted controversy
Radio queen Caroline Mutoko undergoes weight loss procedure, sheds 11kgs
The majority of the targeted chiefs are from Rift Valley and Central region where the vice is rampant.
The directive came as a result of complaints about chiefs in Nandi county raised by Nandi senator Samson Chergei.
Mr Cherargei accused local chiefs of protecting chang’aa dealers in Nandi county as she urged the deputy president to intervene.
“Deputy president, we are appealing to you to help us fight rampant illicit brew in our county, majority of local administrators are reluctant to eradicate illicit brew, “said Mr Cherargei.
Since the government embarked on the war to eradicate illicit brew more than ten years ago several chiefs and their assistants in various parts of the country have been sacked for failing to eradicate the illicit business.
In 2016, a chief in Nakuru who was caught on camera drunk, apparently from consuming illicit brew was sacked on the spot.
Even as police and chiefs bear the brand of eradicating illicit brew, the judiciary has been accused of being too lenient to traders in the brew.
According to administrators, the current law on those found guilty of dealing with the illicit brew thwarts their efforts to fight the vice.