Please, sir…Who said selling alcohol is illegal?

Please, sir, don’t shoot the wrong guy again. This will only amount to execution, just like it did the last time. If this is the structure to be followed in the fight against illicit and sub-standard alcoholic brands, only time will tell if reasonable steps are being taken to curb the menace. Two years ago, the same method was used to fight and ‘eradicate these killer brands’, but it barely worked. Many thought that this was the best punch to the killer brews but look at us again; we are in a worse situation. The method that is being used now is based on emotions, just as it was two years ago as well. In the crackdown conducted at that time, many legitimate businesses were reduced to nothing and many investors incurred millions and millions of losses. Others lost all of their investments.

Why should the investors in this industry be viewed as society’s worst enemy and yet engage in a legal trade? As a matter of fact, they have all the legal documents. Why should those in authority grant licenses as per the law, then go ahead and feed the society with all kinds of negative stereotypes about the industry by targeting people baselessly? Do you really have the statistics of how many people the industry has employed, both, directly and indirectly? Earlier, the law-abiding traders and investors suffered huge losses because a similar problem was tackled based on emotions rather than on factual scenarios. This is the reason that you could see people break into the premises, vandalize products and property, and then walk away happily. Please, sir, be careful of how you go about it now. Who knows, the second time could be a charm. Listen more and act quietly.

Please, sir, do explain how a mere trader, who has complied with all legal requirements of engaging in the genuine alcoholic trade, becomes the first casualty. Why get punished for someone else’s misdoing? Why should I be punished when there are institutions that are mandated to protect my business from such killer brews? Could I also be a victim, sir? Please, sir, protect me instead of victimizing and punishing me. Please, sir, do explain to me why my business will be vandalized and brought down because it’s said that there are counterfeit alcoholic products in the market. Why should the authorities walk into my premises and confiscate all my stock all in the name of illicit brew? Sir, why should one live with this lack of uncertainty of tomorrow’s future in this industry. I’m just a mere trader; all I know is to buy genuine alcoholic brands and sell them proudly, knowing that I am selling quality products. Even though I meet my first expectation as a seller of alcoholic brands, I am the first to be victimized without any proof. This really hurts, sir. This is the business that I understand and am passionate about. It’s through this that I feed my family and have educated my children. This is how I earn my living but fighting counterfeit is not my job, there is only so much that I can do. Why victimize me when I’m also a victim of this menace?

Please sir, why not conduct an autopsy of the illicit and sub-standard alcoholic brands before you make any move.

By; Bryan Mungai