Ol Kalou residents raid bar, destroy alcohol over alleged illicit liquor sale

Residents in Ol Kalou have stormed a bar and destroyed alcoholic drinks after accusing the operator of selling illicit liquor, according to a video seen by the Star.

The footage shows the operator running out of the bar compound as a group of residents follows her along a pathway leading out of the premises.

Some of the residents can be heard wailing as they carry leafy tree branches, with some appearing to strike the operator with the branches as she runs away.

Other residents remain at the bar, where they remove crates of alcoholic drinks from the premises and smash items outside the establishment.

The video does not independently establish whether the drinks being sold were illicit or whether the operator had violated any licensing or other regulations.

The incident shows residents taking action against a local outlet themselves, rather than waiting for enforcement officers to intervene.

The incident comes as the government steps up its crackdown on illicit alcohol and unsafe alcoholic products across the country.

On September 24, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said a multi-agency operation had arrested 3,331 people in connection with the manufacture, distribution, retailing and consumption of illicit alcohol and seized 675,505 litres, of which 385,875 litres had been destroyed. 

Murkomen said the government was also moving beyond confiscating illicit alcohol to targeting premises and other assets allegedly used in the trade.

“If we find you storing illicit alcohol, we will not just take the illicit alcohol, but we will commence the process of taking the premises,” he said. 

Earlier, on April 14, Murkomen said the government would intensify the campaign against illicit alcohol and move beyond prosecution to seizing assets and freezing accounts of people found culpable.