An Assistant Chief from Siaya County has urged the government to back down on war against the locally brewed chang’aa and instead legalize its production and sale.

Nicholas Awuor who is in charge of Malanga Division, in North Gem location, Yala sub-county, made the appeal during the Jukwaa la Usalama Siaya chapter, attended by Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.

Awuor, who is also a student of Policy and Development Studies student at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University, announced that 60 percent of alcohol being taken in Kenya is still illicit despite government’s intervention.

He maintained that Chang’aa is a local brew and should only be regulated, adding that it is better compared to the imported spirits.

“Sir, Murkomen, Chang’aa had been categorised as a local brew before its ban. Sir, Chang’aa, in its composition, the illicit thing in it is that it is not regulated,” Awuor said.

“But comparing chang’aa with the spirits we have that come from Uganda, the second generation brews, those ones are the most lethal,” he added.

He observed that Chiefs have conducted crackdowns on Chang’aa for decades, yet with little to no success.

“My grandfather was an assistant chief in 1968, and the same people he was arresting for brewing chang’aa are the same people I am arresting to date. That tells you the kind of resilience our people have,” Awuor said.

He explained that its regulation, distillation and packaging, would transform the brew from an illicit product to a source of employment.

“If we provide resources so that distillation and packaging are properly regulated, then we can have chang’aa from Siaya that can be sold legally. This would not only safeguard consumers but also create jobs,” he said.

“There are places you go and see poverty with your own eyes. Instead of arresting, you sometimes just leave them,” he said.