The Kiambaa Sub County liquor licensing process is now mired in what stakeholders describe as institutionalized extortion, with a mounting number of bar owners alleging that the board has abandoned its core regulatory mandate and instead entrenched a parallel, informal system of bribery that is both punitive and parasitic.
According to information shared by stakeholders operating within the sub-county, the licensing board is now reportedly demanding illicit payments of up to Ksh. 100,000 from prospective licensees, which is on top of the mandatory licensing fee payable to the county government.
This double financial burden has been described by investors as not only exploitative but also strategically engineered to stifle legitimate business operations in favour of rent-seeking.
Operators narrate scenarios in which board officials, under the guise of inspections and compliance checks, either withhold licenses or issue veiled threats unless bribes are paid.
This has resulted in a climate where legitimate applicants are left with the unpalatable choice of either succumbing to the extortion or being denied access to legal operation frameworks altogether.
Multiple bar owners say that once an operator refuses to give in to the bribe demand, the board members advise them to open their establishments without formal licensing, only to later facilitate raids using county enforcement units and police, thus crippling the businesses under the weight of fines, forced closures, and intimidation.
This strategy of permitting non-compliant operations, only to weaponize enforcement against them, has become a hallmark of what is now being described as a syndicate operating under the full knowledge of local authorities.
Within Kiambaa, there exists a deepening frustration from investors who argue that the environment is rapidly becoming inhospitable for honest business.
Many have now turned to informal networks to share warnings and advice on navigating the licensing maze, often with one theme in common: the necessity to bribe in order to survive.
The calls for action are now growing louder, with business operators now said to be organizing efforts to formally report the activities of the licensing board to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
These complaints are expected to touch not only on the monetary demands but also on the coercive tactics used to extract compliance from unwilling investors.
Questions are being raised as to why the Kiambu County Government has not reined in the board, particularly as its operations now appear to function outside the boundaries of transparency, fairness, or legal propriety.
The narrative emerging from Kiambaa paints a picture of a county office that has become both gatekeeper and predator, turning what should be a predictable, lawful process into an opaque and expensive gamble.
For many, the entry into the alcohol trade has turned into a nightmare, not because of market competition or regulatory complexity but because of a licensing board that has turned a basic county function into a lucrative private scheme.
Whether action will follow these revelations remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the bar owners in Kiambaa are no longer content to suffer in silence.
“Hello Cyprian. Kindly hide my ID. I want to expose the Kiambaa Sub County liquor licensing board headed by one Irene Mbugua, the board has transitioned from a regulatory body to an extortion syndicate demanding bribes of up to 100,000 to issue licenses. This despite the fact that the investor will again pay 100,000 to the county as the licensing fee. Imagine someone refusing to issue you a license because you refused to give a 100,000 shillings bribe that is equal to the licensing fee, greed of the highest order. Ask any bar in Kiambaa and they will tell you of this syndicate that refuses to issue licenses, asks you to open without one then sends police and county officers to harass you. Kiambu governor must intervene on this issue of extorting potential investors. The bar business has become a cash cow for these guys. Stakeholders are now planning to report the officials to the DCI and EACC. This cannot remain the situation.”
