In a rare move, a junior police officer in Naivasha has come to the rescue of tens of addicts involved in the consumption of illicit brews and second generation alcohol.

The administration police officer in the rank of corporal has moved in to counsel and offer shelter to over 50 youths as part of rehabilitation. This came as it emerged that some of the youths from Karati village a few kilometers from Naivasha town were suffering from serious withdrawal symptoms.

According to officer Paul Macharia Konje, the fight against the illicit brew is not going to end by discarding the brews and closing the factories involved alone. Konje who is a pastor with Victory World Outreach church noted that two of the youths had been admitted in hospital suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

He thanked the head of state for the directive and called on well-wishers to come to the aid the youths who are recovering, noting that many were orphans who don't have homes to go to.

“Many of the youths were sleeping in the streets and we have decided to offer them shelter as we counsel and rehabilitate them and address the issue of unemployment,” he said.

On his part, area Chief Samuel Ng’ang’a admitted that it had been a challenge to earlier deal with those manufacturing the brews before the presidential directive as they had licenses. He called on the county government to exercise caution while renewing any licenses for liquor factories and bars, warning that the same crisis could erupt if not addressed.

“We have managed to deal with the issue of liquor fully in this location and we support this initiative to rehabilitate and counsel those affected,” he said

Malewa East MCA John Chege said that before it was very hard to get youths to work on various development projects as they were weak and drunk. “We are working on a kitty through the county government that will support those addicts recovering and we are asking NYS to consider those who are past 35 years,” he said.

One of the addicts Louis Sankare admitted that idleness and lack of jobs contributed to their drinking the lethal and banned drinks. “We have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior and we are calling on the government to assist us get jobs so that we can stay away from illicit brews,” he said.

The sentiments were echoed by 37-year-old Timothy Kamau who admitted that the brews would have killed him were it not for the presidential directive.

“We thank the head of state for his noble move and he should consider banning all alcohol in the country to save the youths,” he said.

A former barmaid Monica Wangari who has since left the job and gotten saved said that she had seen some of her colleagues die due to consumption of illicit brews.

“Though I am jobless, I support the move to eradicate illicit brews completely as many of my colleagues have died while others are hopeless,” she said.