Over 20,000 IDs held by bar owners for unpaid bills in Kirinyaga – Leaders

Leaders in Kirinyaga County are calling for a government intervention over more than 20 000 Identity Cards belonging to the youth held by bar owners in the county due to unpaid alcohol bills.

County youth representative George Kagori told Citizen Digital that bar owners go for the crucial national identification document as a collateral incase the youths fail to settle alcohol bills.

Kagori appealed to the government to either set off the bills in the bars or order bar owners to release the IDs so as to enable the young men to register as voters in the mass registration drive set to kick off on Monday, January 16, 2017.

“We are asking the government to kindly pay the bills for the youth just like (government) have paid debts for coffee, tea, sugarcane, they also recently paid debts for rice farmers,” said Kagori.

Kagori said that the youths do not disclose their predicament to their parents or government authorities due to fear of reprimand.

“They (youths) can tell me of the problem since I’m their agemate but they cannot say it to the parents or chiefs,” he added.

The county youth leader noted that youths go to liquor selling points with some money but drink more than they can afford to pay, so, they are forced to surrender their ID cards to bar owners as collateral.

Leaders in neighbouring Murang’a County have called on bar owners not to sell alcohol to anyone without an Identity Card and a Voters Card in a move aimed at encouraging the youth to register as voters.