Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko’s decision to change his mind and visit Keroche Breweries to sample various beer brands has prompted scathing responses on Twitter.
The controversial politician was preaching just a few days ago about how he now only drinks tea, especially after he joined the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition.
Sonko can be seen enjoying a toast of a certain beer brand on his Twitter profile.
He said that Keroche was back and even encouraged his followers to support beer brands brewed in Kenya.
”I’ve traveled the world, and today I visited the famous Keroche Breweries in Kenya and had the chance to sample the beer brands…
are brewed using state-of-the-art German technology,” claimed Sonko.
Let’s purchase Kenya and establish our very own Keroche Breweries Limited there, the source of unmatched flavor and excellence, he continued.
Sonko tweeted on January 4th, 2023, “Sikuhzi ni juice, chai, maziwaree, soda na mursik. (I just drink juice, tea, milk, soda, and mursik these days.)
He also shared a picture of himself with Anne Kananu and Millicent Omanga on January 2 and announced that they had both joined the tea club.
Watu wa chai kama mimi, hawa wameokoka nakukuwa. Ya chai, welcome to the club. (They have also transitioned to sobriety like I did, becoming tea drinkers. ‘Welcome to the tea club,’ Sonko tweeted.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) closed Keroche Breweries in June 2022 for breaking the terms of the tax agreement about the payment of tax arrears.
The first significant brewery in Kenya owned by a non-multinational corporation is Keroche Breweries, whose founder and current CEO is Tabitha Karanja.
Keroche had committed to pay Sh21 million on December 20, 2021, as well as Sh30 million later, which was due in April, in order to restart the facility.
Later, Ms. Karanja returned to court and asserted that she had been forced into signing the contract with KRA.
According to her, Keroche was able to pay Sh20.8 million to reopen the plant, but was unable to pay the second installment, which caused the closure in June.
The closure would result in the loss of 87,500 liters of beer that have been filtered and are ready for packaging, 1.2 million liters of beer in six tanks that are ready for filtration and packaging, and a loss of Sh350 million if the beer is destroyed, according to Ms. Karanja, who pleaded with the court to reopen the firm.
The business added that it will suffer a loss of Sh35 million due to monthly payroll, operating expenses, and accrued interest on loans taken out with Absa, Equity, and Family banks.
