[Kisii County Governor James Ongwae in a past event. His government has reorganized liquor department to improve its services. Photo/Hivisasa.com]
The Kisii County Government has reorganized its Liquor Licensing directorate to boost efficiency in its operations.
In new changes announced by the County Government, a director who will report directly to the County Executive Committee (CEC) for Trade and Industry will now head the directorate.
To further enhance the directorate’s service delivery, the County has established an inspection and compliance unit to ensure compliance to set regulations. The directorate has also finalized an e-licensing platform where licenses will be issued online to seal loopholes in the manual system currently in use.
Also established is an education and stakeholder management unit that will inform and educate residents on the harmful health, economic and social consequences of the consumption of alcoholic drinks.
“This is a fairly young directorate because the function of liquor licensing was recently devolved. The restructuring has seen additional staff deployed to the directorate in order to ensure it discharges its mandate effectively,” said Cliff Kenani, the Director.
The directorate is established under the Kisii County Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2015 which provides for licensing and regulation of production and sale, distribution, consumption and outdoor advertising of alcoholic drinks.
Recently, the directorate organized public participation forums with the Bar Owners Association in a bid to get their support and educate them on their roles.
Over the past two years, liquor licensing has faced challenges including resistance from bar owners but following the forums, the number of applications for license has gone up.
“Our goal is to create a good working environment for our stakeholders while safeguarding the general welfare of county residents. We shall continuously engage them to ensure full compliance,” explained Kenani.
He said improved enforcement has seen the directorate net expired alcoholic drinks from vendors across the county.
“We shall conduct regular inspections to ensure full compliance to laws and regulations set at county and national government levels. Our stakeholders should avoid using shortcuts especially regarding public health regulations,” he added.
A recent inspection revealed that most premises selling alcoholic drinks lacked adequate sanitation facilities like toilets for male and female users. The directorate has now embarked on mapping and creating an inventory of liquor outlets across the county to ease operations.