Dozens others lost their eyesight. That incident, coupled with a protest march by 300 women in Kikuyu town, some 10 kilometres west of here last month, have forced the police to take note of the health risks posed by the illicit booze. The price of the liquor ranges from five to 25 shillings for a glass of 100 mls, depending on the potency. The brewers, in a bid to 'improve' their product, introduce lethal poisonous substances, like liquid extracted from raw sisal or dangerous chemicals like formalin used to preserve dead bodies, into the drink. Unfortunately, Kenyans, with poor incomes, judge their drinks according to the potency, disregarding the side effects,'' he says.
Social workers attribute the alcohol-related crimes to the increasing level of poverty in Kenya.
Recent figures released by the Minister for Economic Planning and Development, George Saitoti, while launching the 1998 Kenya Economic Survey, show that virtually all economic indicators including growth, per capita income, sectorial performances and social indicators are at the lowest ebb. The agricultural sector grew by a minuscule 1.2 percent compared with 4.4 registered last year. The manufacturing sector similarly fell to a record 1.9 percent growth compared to 3.7 last year. Hard hit by high rates of inflation andthe ever increasing prices of beer and other legal spirits, has led most people to turn to cheap alcohol,'' says Zephania Ong'ata of the Kenya Institute of Policy Management, a Nairobi-based research organisation. Most Kenyans who consume the brew fall within the salary bracket of less than 20 US Dollars a month, in a country where a one- bedroom house costs over 40 US Dollars per month.