Beer makers face tighter rules with change of laws

Senate Majority leader Kithure Kindiki at a past event. The Alcoholic Drinks Control (Amendment) Bill, 2013 sponsored by the Tharaka Nithi senator seeks to ban alcohol-themed billboards in residential areas or within 300 metres of a school and public playgrounds with persons below 18 years. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By Mugambi Mutegi

In Summary

• The proposed law seeks to restrict the time, place and manner in which manufacturers and distributors promote their products -- a move that could deal a major blow to makers of alcoholic drinks, media houses and advertising firms
• The Alcoholic Drinks Control (Amendment) Bill, 2013 sponsored by Tharaka Nithi senator Kithure Kindiki seeks to ban alcohol-themed billboards in residential areas or within 300 metres of a school and public playgrounds with persons below 18 years
• If the law is passed, drivers will lose their licences upon committing the third offence of driving while drunk in a year. Each successive count of the offence will attract a more severe punishment than the previous one
• Kenyatta University, Government Chemist and The Aga Khan Teaching Hospital are among the nine listed institutions whose laboratories can be used to test alcohol levels in drunken drivers

Makers and consumers of alcohol face a more hostile operating environment if Parliament passes a new Bill that seeks to introduce stricter regulation of the market.

The proposed law seeks to restrict the time, place and manner in which manufacturers and distributors promote their products -- a move that could deal a major blow to makers of alcoholic drinks, media houses and advertising firms.

The Alcoholic Drinks Control (Amendment) Bill, 2013 sponsored by Tharaka Nithi senator Kithure Kindiki seeks to ban alcohol-themed billboards in residential areas or within 300 metres of a school and public playgrounds with persons below 18 years.

Outdoor advertisers will also be required to observe the distance rule with respect to public property, places of worship or health facilities.

If the law is passed, drivers will lose their licences upon committing the third offence of driving while drunk in a year. Each successive count of the offence will attract a more severe punishment than the previous one.

The Bill seeks to “increase the penalty for being drunk and incapable from Sh500 to Sh10,000 and require cancellation of driving licences for those convicted of drunken driving three times in a year.”

Kenyatta University, Government Chemist and The Aga Khan Teaching Hospital are among the nine listed institutions whose laboratories can be used to test alcohol levels in drunken drivers.

Dr Kithure’s is the latest attempt to amend the laws governing manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol in Kenya -- popularly known as the Mututho laws.

It comes two years after former Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi’s failed attempt to repeal the laws through removal of sections that were deemed to be contentious.

The MP had sought to have bars remain open for up to 12 hours up from the current six, and restrict the prohibition on alcoholic promotion to ‘bars and hotels where the majority of the audience targeted is underage.’

Former Naivasha MP John Mututho – the author of the current law – had tried to introduce amendments similar to Dr Kithure’s just before the 10th Parliament was dissolved.

Alcoholic drinks regulation remains an emotive issue in Kenya whose proponents have paid a heavy political price. Mr Mututho has, for instance, argued that the alcoholic drinks makers were behind his failure to recapture his seat in the last election.

President Kenyatta has, however, recently appointed the outspoken politician to chair the board of the agency that regulates use of narcotic substances and alcohol in Kenya (Nacada).

The appointment has, however, been embroiled in controversy forcing Mr Kenyatta to cancel it and start afresh.

Yesterday, Mr Mututho appeared before a parliamentary committee for vetting as required by law and, if accepted and Parliament passes the Kithure amendments, will preside over an even more powerful agency.