Kenya: Keroche Breweries asks authorities to intervene in Kenya’s current ‘beer war’

Keroche Breweries has asked the Kenyan Monopolies and Prices Commission to intervene in the fight over the lucrative beer market, The Standard published on April, 4.

In a letter dated March 25, this year and addressed to five parliamentary committees, Managing Director Tabitha Karanja alleged sabotage and unethical behaviour by rival East African Breweries Limited (EABL).

Mrs Karanja claimed EABL had threatened not to sell its products to any bar owner who stocks or allows any point of sale material of Keroche’s Summit brand to be displayed in their premises.

"The businessmen fear that should EABL make good this threat, they would be ruined financially," she added. The Commission, a Department of the Ministry of Finance, prohibits restrictive trade practices such as price-fixing, cartel behaviour, market/territorial allocation, and exclusive dealings and tied purchases among others.

Karanja has addressed the letter to the chairmen of the Public Investment Committee (PIC), Public Accounts Committee, Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and Finance, Trade and Planning Committee.

It is copied to, among others, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and the Commission.

Karanja also appealed to PIC to probe multinationals she claimed promoted unfair trade practices at the expense of local entities. Early this year, Karanja wrote to her EABL counterpart Gerald Mahinda over the destruction of her firm’s posters by people, she claimed were employees of EABL.

07 April, 2009