President William Ruto has come out boldly to defend his deputy Rigathi Gachagua after claims from a section of Mt Kenya Region bar owners that the Kenya Kwanza government was targeting their businesses.
Speaking in Nyeri County on Tuesday, President Ruto said the government will carry out its duty to protect Kenyans from cartels who are using drugs and illicit brews to destroy the future of the youth, saying the move is unstoppable.
“We are very intentional on those people who want to corrupt our young people with drugs and illicit brews. It cannot be business as usual. We cannot have a drinking nation, we must have a working nation, it cannot be both ways.”
“Those who are telling us that we have closed their bars and they are unhappy with us, surely, the losses we have incurred through drugs is huge.”
“You go to towns, villages and estates and find young people who can hardly stand because of drugs and those brews, it is unaccepted. We are going to be firm and forthright because I know for sure, that nobody will die because they are not drunk,” said Ruto.
This comes at a time when some residents and leaders from Mt Kenya have voiced their concerns, wondering why the region is seemingly being targeted by the illicit brew crackdown.
Despite the uproar in the region, Gachagua has maintained that he will not relent in the fight, adding that he is ready to pay political prize if that will liberate the region from the illicit brews.