NACADA; All Bars To Be Closed On The Eve Of Elections

One day prior to the elections, the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) is urging the closure of all bars and entertainment venues.

The majority of violence encountered during the elections, according to NACADA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Victor Okioma, is caused by drunk youngsters. He notes that this action would be crucial in promoting peace.

“We are calling for a closure of all bars during the elections. Business owners, religious leaders and security agents have met and agreed that there would be no bars in operation during the eve of the elections and during the elections.

“We are in talks with the Minister of Interior to see whether he could give the greenlight for the proposal,” Okioma said.

As he pressed for additional counties to follow suit with the elections just a few days away, Okioma claimed that certain counties had already approved the action. He further asked politicians not to utilize young to stir up trouble and similarly warned them not to use youth to sabotage the campaigns of other leaders.

“We are calling on the leaders not to misuse the youth. We ask them not to be used to disrupt rallies. That is the engagement we are having across the country,” said Okioma.
Just a few days before to NACADA’s action, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) also demanded that Facebook be taken down because it was being used to disseminate hate speech as the nation got closer to the elections.

However, the Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and his Information and Communication Technology (ICT) counterpart Joe Mucheru rejected the idea, stating that no media will stop operating during the elections.

“We work in a democratic set up we are not going to interfere with social media and the internet just because of elections, my colleague in ICT have expressed ourselves on the matter several times before,” Matiang’i affirmed.