Killer brews: Three dead, two fighting for lives in Kitengela

By  Stanley Ngotho

Contributor

Nation Media Group

On Friday morning, Christine Mukeira Maina sat on a wooden bench, flanked by relatives at her home in Noonkpoir village, Kitengela, Kajiado County, deep in thought as she mourned her husband, who died on Monday night after consuming suspected illicit alcohol.

For the past four days, a sombre mood has engulfed Noonkpoir village, where at least three people have died, two others are said to be fighting for their lives, and several families have been devastated. The five are said to have consumed the lethal alcohol within the Migingo area on the evening of Monday, September 21, 2026, before dying within a radius of one kilometre of their respective homes.

Over the years, the middle-class neighbourhood christened “Migingo”, tucked within populous Kitengela Noonkopir, has snowballed into an epicentre of crime, drugs and illicit brews.

On Friday, Nation traced some of the bereaved families, who expressed their pain over losing their loved ones to alcohol.

A few metres from the Noonkpoir dumping site, the family of James Maina Nguru, 40, was devastated. His wife, Christine Mukeira, 38, said her husband died on Monday evening after a drinking spree with friends after work. She said he had always drunk after work, making him addicted to alcohol.

She said the father of three, who was a mason, passed by home after work in the neighbourhood before he went to wind down in a notorious pub within the neighbourhood, only to come back around 8pm complaining of stomach pain.

“He came home in bad shape, complaining of stomach pain. He could hardly stand up. After a few minutes on the bed, he began vomiting blood and died as we (wife, his sister and mother) watched helplessly,” said Mukeira in tears.

She said she now has to cater for her two children as a single mother and that the family was not prepared for a postmortem considering their financial constraints, and they knew what killed their man.

“Alcohol has made me a widow. No need for postmortem; we know what killed him. It’s the bitter truth,” she added.

Nguru’s aged mother, Mary Muthoni Nguru, who relocated from Eldoret with her young family to Kitengela during the 1997 post-election skirmishes, said she had brought up her children in Kitengela as a widow after losing her husband years back. She lived with the Nguru, her last-born son, and his family on her plot.

She has reached out to the government to crack the whip on unscrupulous traders selling the killer brew to their customers.

“I have always cautioned my son over the alcohol, but it has finally killed him. I am speaking about it to help other parents living in denial. Let the government move with speed to crack the whip, lest we lose most of the sons hooked on alcohol,” said Muthoni.

Nguru will be buried on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at the family home in Burnt Forest, Eldoret County. The body is being preserved at Kitengela Sub-County Hospital mortuary.

In the same neighbourhood, a few metres from Sameri Police Post, Lynette Sirengo, 45, is mourning her husband, Godfrey Simiyu Kiliswa, 55, a casual labourer.

Outside her semi-permanent rental house, which signified the family’s abject poverty, Sirengo said her husband died on Monday, September 22, 2026, at 10am after a night of pain.

She said she had been alerted by neighbours after her husband was spotted lying unconscious by the roadside a few metres from a popular illicit brew pub referred to as “Kwa Omosh”, where he had spent the better part of his evening drinking with friends as usual.

“I was helped by friends to bring him home on Monday evening. He was in pain and was not speaking. In the morning, I left him lying in bed to run some errands, but when I came back, I prepared porridge for him, only to realise he was dead when I was trying to feed him,” said Sirengo.

The family is arranging for the burial to take place in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, on a later date. The body is lying at Kitengela Sub-County Hospital mortuary, with the family not considering a postmortem.

At least 300 metres away, another victim, Elisha Okello’s semi-permanent house, remained padlocked, waiting for an occupant who will never come back.

His brother, John Omondi, who spoke to Nation on the phone, said his brother was battling a chronic disease, with alcohol taking a toll on his health.

“He had a condition, but he was into alcohol. He was last seen in a pub with a friend before he died moments later. We might conduct an autopsy,” said Omondi.

According to his neighbour, Rahab Njeri, he came home on Wednesday night drunk but failed to enter his house, fell on the doorstep and died around 8pm. A popular plumber, he was living alone. His body was collected by police officers and taken to Kitengela Sub-County Hospital mortuary.

“He had no known family. He lived alone,” said Njeri, with her sentiments echoed by the plot caretaker, Kevin Ambei.

At Kitengela Sub-County Hospital mortuary, four bodies from Noonkpoir village had been booked by Kitengela Police Station officers in the past week, allegedly after the victims consumed alcohol. Three of the four bodies were of people whose families had spoken to Nation. The last body was booked on Friday morning, according to records seen by Nation.

A brother to another male victim told Nation in confidence, as he was not allowed by the family to speak to the media, that his brother, who had taken alcohol on Monday at Migingo, was fighting for his life in a Nairobi hospital.

“He is critically ill in a Nairobi hospital. His intestines and other internal organs are severely damaged. He is in HDU,” he said.

A spot check in several pubs indicated they were open, with customers streaming in and out.

The deaths have attracted condemnation from members of the public, who pointed fingers at security agencies, accusing them of sleeping on their job as they collect protection fees from pub owners. They said officers at the nearby Sameri Police Post had left them on their own.

Clement Njunge, a Nyumba Kumi elder, said the estate has become an alcohol paradise and, over the years, has turned into an epicentre of killer brews.

“The issue is not the illicit and second-generation alcohol but who protects the known suppliers who always evade the law. We have raised an alarm many times, but now we are mourning,” said Njung’e.

Isinya Sub-County Police Commander Simon Lokitari said there was no formal report on the same, despite police vehicles having ferried two of the bodies to the mortuary and instances being booked at Kitengela Police Station.

“We have no formal report, but we have intensified the crackdown on illicit liquor and illegal brew joints,” said Lokitari.

The deaths come at a time when the National Police Service (NPS) and all security agencies across the country have been ordered to sustain a nationwide crackdown on illicit alcohol and drug trafficking.

The circular, signed by Mathew Kuto on behalf of the Inspector-General on September 24, noted a resurgence of illicit alcohol and drug abuse across the country, despite earlier directives to sustain the crackdown. The circular cited a recent incident in Kimende town, Kiambu County, where one person died after consuming illicit alcohol and a second one escaped death by a whisker, sparking a public uproar against unscrupulous traders.

The circular further warned that commanders whose areas of jurisdiction are found to have persistent or rampant cases of illicit brew and drug abuse will be held personally responsible, and they are required to record daily arrests and seizures.

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