It is true that the consumption of illicit brew has really affected this country. The President took a very wise step in declaring war against this illicit business as he vehemently and furiously called for a crackdown on all illicit brew vending dens in the country. It was easy to understand the frustrations of the President as he ordered the crackdown, given the danger that these illicit brews pose.
When the war on illicit brews was declared, few expected that it would take an ugly turn that would see genuine businesses hurt in the process as well as scaring away potential businesses. The war was aimed at getting rid of second generation alcohol in the country but people mistook the call for illicit brews and started attacking legal business enterprises that have been licensed to operate legally by the government.
Reports have emerged of people raiding legal business outlets that are selling genuine brands and causing mass destruction of property. The constitution is very clear on matters of property. It prohibits any attempt to destroy property. The mere fact that people took it upon themselves to destroy genuine business, licensed to legally operate in the country by the government led to the ignorance of the law. The truth is that business has been destroyed and millions of shillings have been lost as other Kenyans as well as the government helplessly watches.
President Kenyatta also did one big mistake by ordering members of parliament to lead the operation against the illicit brew business. From the look of things most politicians took the opportunity to hit out at their enemies through destroying of their businesses in the name of fighting ‘illegal businesses’.
The way this war on second generation alcohol has turned out however, clearly shows that the crackdown on illicit brew is just a mission in futility. The hooliganism that was displayed during the mission clearly showed that the country from the top brass of leadership lacks the rule of law and only believes in taking matters in their own hands. The President missed a mark on this and believe it or not this is going to hurt our economy.
Legal businesses have been attacked and a lot of property destroyed in the process. The destruction of property has led to losses and this means that the government is not going to get the revenue it would have gotten if the operation was well organized.
It is going to take time for those whose properties have been destroyed to get back on their feet and start doing business again. It should be considered that most of them had taken loans to finance their businesses with some having barely started servicing the same loans. This will delay the economy from getting back to where it was before.
Potential investors are going to be scared away from the alcohol selling business. This is because the message that we have sent out to them is that we do not want the business and that if they venture into it we shall destroy it anyway. It will therefore take time to convince investors back into the sector and realize profits once again.
Additionally, we went against the constitution which prohibits us from the destruction of property and this only shows that we do not believe in the same law that we passed and promulgated.