Naivasha MP John Mututho. File
Bars could remain open for up to 14 hours a day if amendments to the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act proposed by Mount Elgon Member of Parliament Fred Kapondi become law.
The passing by parliament of the proposed amendments will amount to a resounding victory of commercial interests over social concerns such as binge drinking, family break-ups and crime that inspired Naivasha MP John Mututho to help bring into force new laws to encourage responsible drinking.
The Alcoholic Drinks (Amendment) Bill seeks to have bars open an hour earlier and close an hour later each day to afford operators time for administrative activities.
Without prescribing time limits, the bill recommends that bars remain open for additional eight hours every day up from the current six.
Under the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, popularly known as Mututho laws, bars are open between 5pm and 11pm on weekdays and between 2pm and 11pm on weekends, a restriction that has significantly cut down consumption volumes forcing many operators to close shop.
Mr Kapondi’s amendments are expected to open a new round of lobbying pitting brewers and distribution agents against civil society groups and state agencies such as the National Coalition Against Drug Abuse (Nacada).
On Monday, Mr Mututho said he would oppose the proposed amendments as they amount to taking the country back to where it was before the new laws came into force in November last year.
“Mr Kapondi is trying to reintroduce the past operating hours through the back door,” he said adding that the amendments would essentially leave bars open from morning till midnight.
“I intend to introduce the current operating hours into the main statute to counter this proposal. Let them brace for a big battle in Parliament,” Mr Mututho said. Mr Kapondi could not be reached for comment.
If passed, Mr Kapondi’s changes will also take pressure off the backs of retailers and brewers, who have attributed the drop in sales to fewer drinking hours.
“These changes will reverse the 25 per cent drop in sales we have recorded since November,” said Ms Tabitha Karanja, the managing director of Keroche Industries – a beer maker.
Kenya’s largest beer brewer, East African Breweries Limited (EABL), reported a drop in net half-year profits for the period ended December 2010 from Sh4.2 billion the previous year even though the period was only partly affected by the new laws.
Longer operating hours could also reverse recent retrenchments of staff by entertainment spots looking to cut costs through abolition of the work shift regime in place when bars were allowed to operate round-the-clock.
Nacada, the agency that is charged with controlling consumption of alcoholic drinks and drugs, said the amendments not only dilute the alcohol control law on impact but also in spirit.
“The drinking hours rule is at the heart of this law and increasing access to and availability of alcohol defeats its purpose,” said Aggrey Busena, the acting national co-ordinator of Nacada.
Mr Busena said a technical team was studying the bill and would lobby MPs to defeat particular clauses when it goes before parliament.
The proposed changes also come as a relief to brewers who are opposed to the Mututho laws’ restrictions on marketing and promotion of alcoholic drinks through award of prizes to consumers. The law prohibits use of prizes to promote alcoholic drinks at an “event or activity associated with persons under the age of 18.”
The Kapondi Bill, however, proposes that the industry be left to self-regulate its promotions without the approval of the Betting Control and Licensing Board except in cases involving activities associated with persons under the age of 18.
Mr Kapondi argues that most social activities are patronised by people of all ages and the prohibition should only apply where the majority of the participants are underage.
Such a move would see brewers, both local and foreign, continue allocating millions of shillings to advertising through promotions, competitions as well as reality television shows.
Section 32 of the Act – which spells out information beer makers must display on the packages — requires that all alcoholic drinks must have health warning messages “comprising not less than 30 per cent of the total surface area of the package.” Mr Kapondi is seeking repeal of this section of the law potentially freeing brewers from such restrictions.
On May 27, EABL secured a suspension by the High Court of this clause arguing that it was impossible to execute.
Keroche Breweries, another beer maker, is also opposed to the clause, whose full implementation, it says, can only come at a huge cost to manufacturers.
“The requirement to have a third of the bottle covered by a warning message only meant we had to redesign our bottles,” said Mrs Karanja.
Also targeted for amendment is the clause preventing bars from operating within a 300 metres radius from a school or facility for children. Nacada is assessing the practicability of this clause.
“We will consider a number of factors such as the planning zones in deciding the fate of any outlet that is in breach of this law,” Mr Busena said two months ago in what amounted to a climb down from the full application of the law it had earlier demanded. Mr Kapondi’s bill says investments that were set up before the schools should be spared from this rule.
“In practice, several premises including high class tourism hotels would have to be closed if this provision were to be implemented without due regard to pre-existing investments,” the bill reads in part.
If Mr kapondi has his way, the decision will be left to the discretion of the recently-instituted licensing district committees to decide whether the location negatively affects learners or not. Other than sparing thousands of bar owners who were living in fear of a mass shutdown, it would also serve to ease anxieties of brewers who had expressed fears of a reduction in their distribution channels.
Under the current law, establishments that sell alcohol drinks are prohibited from allowing access to persons below 18 years– whether accompanied by an adult or not.
Citing the implementation complexity encountered when such businesses double up as family entertainment spots, the bill seeks to exempt those who visit such premises accompanied by underage children for meals.
Pubs Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK) says families have avoided premises that sell alcohol wholesale for fear of arrest.
Since its coming into force in November last year, the Mututho laws have been divisive with businesses and patrons contesting its provisions in courts while women demonstrate on the streets in its support.
The debate will now play out on the floor of Parliament with intense lobbying expected in the fight for the control of the Sh42 billion industry.
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