Thesis:

Effect of alcohol control policies on regulation of illicit brews trade in Meru county, Kenya.

Alcohol-related problems exist in Kenya, despite the fact that county governments are primarily responsible for regulating the alcohol trade within their territories and establishing new regulations. The purpose of this study is to analyse how policy regulation has affected the sales of alcoholic beverages in Meru County, Kenya. The goals of the research are to determine how much of an impact licencing laws, enforcement laws, compliance with regulatory requirements, and cultural factors have on the regulation of the illegal brew trade in Meru County. This research aids the Meru County Alcohol Regulation Board and the Kenyan government as a whole by providing crucial data for regulating the alcohol industry. Eric Single's availability theory and Sully Ledermann's single distribution theory were used in the study. Descriptive research methods were utilised, and the sample size was 349 people from 38 different towns and cities in Meru West Sub County. Ten percent of the sample population, or 35 booze dealers, were chosen to ensure a statistically valid representation of the population as a whole. Five towns were selected from three wards in Meru West Sub County using a multistage cluster sampling strategy, and seven alcohol sellers were chosen from each town using a snowball sampling technique, for a total of 35 participants. One member of the County Licencing Committee, one sub-county commissioner, two chiefs, four assistant chiefs, and two police officers were selected at random from the population of the research area to serve as key informants and provide their perspectives through interviews. Questionnaires and interview guides were tested for validity and reliability before use in the data gathering process. A preliminary test was run in a city that wouldn't be included in the main research. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data, and the results were displayed as percentages, frequency tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. Content analysis was performed on the qualitative data. The National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation (NACOSTI), Kenyatta University, and the respondents all gave their consent for this study to be conducted. According to the findings of the study, the licencing of businesses dealing in alcoholic beverages, the establishment of alcohol licencing legislation, and the application of penalties have all played important roles in controlling the sale of alcoholic beverages in the county. Corruption, however, undermines the implementation of alcohol trade rules in Meru County, making the problem of illegal brews difficult to solve. The research also found that most retailers of alcoholic beverages do not keep to the required business hours, despite the fact that many producers do conform to labelling regulations. Sometimes, people under the legal drinking age are sold alcohol. These results suggest that the County government should start a public awareness campaign on the importance of enforcing the laws against illegal breweries. It is important to assess the efficacy of licencing measures in curbing the illegal spirits trade. Successful regulation of illegal brews would also be facilitated by the government conducting periodic audits of alcohol enterprises to guarantee compliance with the appropriate policies.