Former NACADA chairman John Mututho says Kenya will never win the fight against fake alcohol until it fixes its own rulebook.
Speaking on a local television station on Saturday, Mututho claimed there is “no genuine vodka in Kenya.”
His target is not just rogue brewers in Murang’a, but the Kenya Standard KS 2328 the potable spirits standard.
Under that standard, he argues, a manufacturer can import industrial ethanol, dilute it with water, add flavour and colour, and legally call it vodka, whisky or gin.
“That’s the loophole. You must conform to internationally accepted standards of vodka,” Mututho said.
He alleged that about 80 percent of industrial ethanol used in Kenya is imported by one company, then distributed to factories that produce dozens of brands from the same base spirit.
It is a blunt claim, but it explains why KEBS, KRA and the Anti-Counterfeit Authority are now overwhelmed.
About 59 percent of alcohol by volume is illicit, according to official data, and KRA’s Soma Label app has become the consumer’s only scanner.
Mututho’s point is painful for a regular drinker in Webuye or Kiambu. You are not buying craft. You are buying ethanol and flavour.
Until the standard demands real distillation, he says, the bottle will keep lying.
