Mututho: KRA Tax Stamps Cannot Prove Alcohol Authenticity, Quality Rules Must Be Enforced
Former National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) chairman John Mututho has called for stronger measures to help consumers distinguish genuine alcoholic drinks from counterfeits.
He said KRA tax stamps are primarily intended for tax collection and do not independently establish a product’s authenticity.
Mututho argued that tax stamps alone cannot establish whether a drink is genuine or counterfeit, calling for the enforcement of alcohol quality regulations to protect consumers.
The Missing Yardstick
He said the regulations developed under the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, commonly known as the Mututho Law, were intended to establish standards for determining the quality and composition of alcoholic beverages.
“When we say counterfeit, what is the yardstick? Have you seen anybody publish the yardstick? So that if, and this is water, if it’s not water, it’s something else, but there’s a yardstick for water, that it will have certain minerals, it will have certain definitions. When we did the Mututho law, we were supposed to do four regulations,” he said during an interview on Spice FM on Wednesday.
Only Access Regulations Implemented
Mututho said four regulations had been envisaged under the law, covering access, quality and other controls, but only the access regulations were implemented.
He explained that quality regulations would define what constitutes consumable alcohol and establish standards against which products in the market could be tested.
Call for a Product Security System
The former NACADA chairman called for a product security system that would allow consumers to verify the authenticity of alcoholic drinks by matching security marks on the bottle, its cap and the KRA tax stamp.
“I take it by looking at this bottle now, they have a KRA stamp here. That KRA stamp is designed for tax revenue,” he said.
“Basically, if they really meant what they’re talking about, the security mark on the border of the bottle, because it was defined by those regulations, and the one at the bottle top here should be matching.”
He said such a system would make it harder for counterfeiters to reuse security marks and deceive consumers.
Warning to Consumers Ahead of Festive Season
Mututho warned that consumers risk purchasing counterfeit products packaged to resemble genuine international brands, making it difficult to establish their authenticity.
With the festive season approaching, he urged Kenyans to be cautious when buying alcoholic drinks and advised consumers to seek procurement details from sellers and verify products with manufacturers.
“I would advise Kenyans, because you are going for a holiday season, at least just be fussy. Try and get the procurement document. If it’s a pub, let him declare. Then follow up with the manufacturer yourself through the net; you can know to make sure that that bottle particularly came from somebody somewhere in Europe. And if your stomach turns or rumbles because of that, don’t just say it’s shauri ya Mungu. Take them to court. They owe you billions,” he said.
“You are supposed to enjoy your drink.”
Mututho said enforcing quality regulations would give consumers a reliable way of determining what they are drinking rather than relying solely on tax stamps.