New Juja DCC Hits The Ground Running, Seizes More Than 10,000 Litres Of Illegal Brew Paraphernalia.
In the crackdown led by Juja Deputy County Commissioner Muthama
Wambua, the officers destroyed the brew and raw materials used for brewing
chang'aa. Wambua, who has been recently posted in this newly created District,
said they got a tip-off from the public that the brewers from Thika’s Kiandutu
Slums and the neighbouring Machakos County were conducting this illegal trade
in the area
“We have nabbed and
destroyed 8600 litres of kangara, 530 kg of molasses and jaggery plus
900 litres of chang’aa in the two-day crackdown. We also confiscated 4 metallic
coolers,” said Wambua.
According to the DCC, the suspects are believed to be
distributing the liquor in Juja, Ruiru and parts of Thika and Nairobi.
Speaking in his office one day after his latest raids,
Wambua stated that police did not managed to arrest any suspect but reiterated
that his office will not stop raiding chang’aa dens. He cautioned the brewers
from resuming operations saying that they would intensify their operations
until they rid of this illegal trade.
“As a county, we cannot sit back as our people are killed by
this liquor. We have teamed up with police and the residents to end the problem
once and for all. This is the beginning of this operation and we are going to
continue until we clean the whole of Juja. We cannot allow this (sale and
consumption of the illicit brews) to continue,” he said.
On matters security, the DCC said that so far his team has
been able to put it under control lest for one or two occasional cases of
insecurity which he said were being dealt with as they were reported.
Wambua added that they were now in the process of vetting
all the brokers who operated in Ndarugu and Witeithie area in a bid to check
criminal elements ho were said to be swindling wananchi in the pretext of
selling them building materials.
However, he said the district was facing several challenges
because of lack of enough human resource but was optimistic that with the
deployment of a new OCPD in the area, security operations will be made easier.
“Currently we are operating without an OCPD but we expect
that when we get one, there will be better coordination in the work of the
police. We are now depending on the OCPD Thika and Ruiru to man some of our
regions,” he said.
He also said that with the expected sub-divisions of the new
district into 5 divisions and more locations, his work will be made easier
since this will create the positions of 5 more D.O.s, several chiefs and their assistance
who will assist him in manning the district.
The sub-divisions will enable the creation of Nyumba Kumi
committees who are very crucial in the maintenance of law and order.
Juja is among the youngest districts in the country, having
been crafted off from Thika and Ruiru Districts. Juja broke off from Thika
District, taking with it the previous Komo, Kalimoni and Juja Locations while
Theta Location was hived off from Ruiru District.
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