Kenya: Keroche Industries accuses NACADA of omitting it from approved liquor and breweries list

Keroche Industries has accused NACADA (the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse) of engaging in a smear campaign against its product, The Star reported on June 10.

On June 9, Keroche said in an interview NACADA is driven by hatred.

CEO Tabitha Karanja said unnamed competitor is using the agency to fight its products in the market.

On June 5, NACADA listed all the approved liquor and breweries in the country but left out Keroche products.

On June 9, Keroche said it was among the firms that first handed over its products and documents to Kenya Bureau of Standards for approval.

Karanja said she was shocked when the names of the company products were omitted from the list published by NACADA in the local dailies.

“The Kenya Bureau of Standards collected samples of our products and approved them and we are wondering why our products were omitted from the NACADA list,” she said.

Karanja was speaking to the press in Naivasha town.

She said the firm has nothing to hide and can be scrutinised anytime.

“We are very keen on quality and we welcome government agencies to sample any of our products and test them so that the issue can be cleared,” Karanja said.

In a quick rejoinder, NACADA chairman John Mututho denied the authority is targeting Keroche products.

He was speaking to the Star on the phone on June 9.

Mututho said the list published in the local dailies is not the last one.

He said vetting of documents and products of all brewers is still going on.

Mututho denied existence of any bad blood between him and Keroche Industries.

“As far as I am concerned, Keroche products are among the top in the county in terms of quality and quantity and we have no reason to fight the company,” he said.

13 June, 2014