John Michael Njenga Mututho

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1211 to 1220 of 1647.

• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want from the onset, to state that unlike what many Kenyans think, or what many people believe, we are not particularly talking about chang’aa ; we are talking about third generation alcohol, which is a concoction between ethanol and methanol and what is popularly known as “industrial alcohol”. This has been the cause of a lot of suffering to Kenyans, particularly in Central Kenya, as I stand here. Most hon. Members will bear me witness that, that concoction not only erodes the very fabric of family finances, but it also denies our good ladies the ... view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am privy to the fact that in this country, there is widespread use and misuse of alcoholic beverages. It is reported by NACADA that as early as the age of 10 in some areas, children have been known to be already abusing alcohol. Alcohol is addictive; while talking about addiction, I want to thank the Chair for allowing me to attend an international conference on alcohol and alcohol abuse, attended by people and experts from all over the world. The findings there were crystal clear that there are three principal reasons why people take ... view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to commend the Parliamentary Service Commission because they have a drinking place, but as you walk into the main Chamber, you will never know there is a drinking place there. That is a very civilized alcohol outlet. Other than that, if you compare that with the petrol stations and supermarkets, you will realize that everybody can access alcohol at will. So, access is the principal cause of alcohol abuse worldwide, out of the three. view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker the second reason why people drink is peer pressure or just a kind of fallacy among the people that drinking is good; a little red wine is good after a meal and so forth and so on. These are misconceptions. There is no scientific basis for it; nevertheless, it contributes greatly to what we now see as an alcohol problem. It is for this that this Bill makes a lot of effort to address the issue of media in terms of publicity and the rest of it. Advertisements which are misleading and which tend to lure ... view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: The third reason, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, is the alcoholism; people who are alcohol-dependent. I have given three reasons and the third one is particularly pathetic because most people, once hooked to alcohol, tend to develop such an appetite for alcohol that they develop alcohol tremor and have to take a bit of it before they are even able to sign on paper. This particularly affects executives and other people of means. That has been addressed too in this Bill by establishing a fund that will work for rehabilitation of those who are now alcohol-dependent. view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: in the Kalenjin community was not a very bad drink. It was a fairly strong drink just like vodka, rum and others. Over time, and I say this with a lot of pain, people around Kisii started mixing a concoction of sewage, molasses and other things to produce methanol or ethanol impurities which they call chang’aa. That is not chang’aa. It should have a specification if it has to be produced. It should be produced just like vodka. In a country like Russia where people have vodka for breakfast, you do not experience the problems that we have here. This ... view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Still on licensing, if you are licensed to have 80 people in your bar or hotel and then you end up having 800 people, that situation will be addressed by this Bill. Offenders will completely be dealt with. However, a few companies in this country, most of them in my constituency have decided that Kenyans do not matter anymore. All they do is to get industrial alcohol, dilute it a bit, add food colourings and then call it fortified wine. You will be done in ten minutes if you take it. You will sleep for 12 hours. We have lost ... view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: but I am talking about these drinks that people masquerade to be view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: which leave one in a complete mess if he or she takes them in little proportions. view
• 10 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: The fourth reason is that we want to protect the health of Kenyans. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Minister has a lot of powers, under this Bill, to deal with anybody, be it a large-scale brewer or small-scale brewer, who introduces deliberately certain ingredients that have adverse effects on the consumer. For instance, there is a clause which provides that the Minister can outlaw anything that, to his opinion, and on advice of the necessary agencies, is not proper for human health. What we are saying here is that if Kenyans react differently from the effects of say, Vodka Red ... view