KIGALI — Rwanda’s government said on Thursday that protecting public health would take precedence over economic concerns as it intensifies a nationwide crackdown on illicit and substandard alcohol linked to dozens of deaths and cases of blindness.
Speaking on local Royal FM radio, Government Spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the closure of noncompliant alcohol manufacturers was necessary to save lives, despite concerns that the campaign could cost jobs.
“What was urgent was to save the lives of the people; the health of people comes before everything else,” she said.
Makolo said the government would continue supporting job creation, but only through businesses that operate within the law.
She also said investigations were continuing to determine responsibility for the public health crisis, both in the private sector and within government institutions.
An inter-agency effort is ongoing to establish how dangerous alcoholic products entered the market and whether regulatory failures contributed to the crisis.
The crackdown has expanded rapidly in recent weeks.
As of Thursday, authorities had shut down 136 alcohol manufacturing facilities, revoked their operating licences and ordered the recall of affected products.
At least 56 suspects have been arrested, while unsafe alcohol and related goods worth more than Rwf2.6 billion have been seized. Courts have also imposed nearly Rwf360 million in fines.
The toxic drinks have been linked to at least 50 deaths, about 100 cases of blindness, and more than 500 people seeking medical treatment.
Authorities continue to recall unsafe products from the market, remove their advertisements and destroy seized stockpiles. In one joint operation, officials destroyed more than 470,000 litres of ethanol. The government has also suspended 52 imported alcohol brands and revoked licences allowing the importation of ethanol.
Makolo said the campaign was about more than enforcing regulations.
“We’re an ambitious country and we will not get to where we want to get to if we are distracted, if our young people and older people are harmed by products that they’re taking,” she said.
“It’s our responsibility as government to ensure that these products are not in the market.”
She also said Rwanda’s modernization should not come at the expense of the country’s core values, arguing that protecting people’s wellbeing is essential to national development.
“There are some fundamental values of our society that we want to maintain because this is what makes us Rwandans,” she said.
As part of the broader campaign, the government has enlisted artists, musicians and other public figures to help discourage drug abuse and harmful alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, as it seeks to prevent a repeat of one of the country’s worst illicit alcohol crises in recent years.
