Court issues warrant of arrest against millionaire brewer
Tharaka Nithi Court issues a warrant for the arrest of Simon Gitari for failure to honour court summons over the alleged operation of an unlicensed brewing industry.
A Chuka court in Tharaka Nithi County has issued a warrant for the arrest of Simon Gitari for failure to honour court summons over the alleged operation of an unlicensed brewing industry.
The millionaire brewer, popularly known as ‘Gitari Boss’, is the director of Hakim Commercial Agencies which owns the factory located in Ndiruni village in Chuka Sub-County.
On Monday, a multi-agency team led by Tharaka Nithi County Police Commander Zacchaeus Ngeno raided the distillery and seized 250,000 litres of illegal liquor.
Three suspects—Amos Mugambi, Kawira Gitari and Tyson Mwenda—who were arrested during the raid pleaded not guilty to being involved in the illegal business before Senior Resident Magistrate Herbert Mwendwa.
The three were each released on Sh500,000 bond or Sh100,000 cash bail and the matter will be mentioned on September 6, 2023.
“The warrant of arrest is hereby issued against Simon Gitari for failure to appear before this court as directed,” said Magistrate Mwendwa.
The multi-agency team also seized various unidentified chemicals which are believed to be used in the manufacture of the illegal alcohol and will be taken to a government chemist for analysis.
According to the county government, Mr Gitari’s brewing company failed to qualify because it had no certificates from the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).
Public health officials also disqualified the firm after it failed to meet the hygiene requirements while the premises also fell short of the standards.
In May 2016, former Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho found himself in trouble after a court issued a warrant for his arrest for leading a raid at Gitari brewing factory while he had a court order barring any interference with the firm.
However, the warrant of arrest issued by the Meru High Court could not be effected due to typographical errors.
The brewer had obtained orders restraining PS Kibicho and his officers from harassing the brewer but the PS and his juniors repeatedly defied the directives.
In an effort to combat rampant consumption of illegal alcohol, and drug and substance abuse, in February this year, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki revoked all brewing and bar licences and called for fresh applications.
The multi-agency team went around inspecting brewing firms and bars that had applied for licensing and only one out of the three liquor manufacturers who applied qualified while out of 10 beer distributors who sought the nod, only four were considered.
A total of 1,006 bars applied for licensing and only 556 qualified while hundreds of others did not apply.
