Online Reporter
Conrad Mupesa
Mashonaland West Bureau
GOVERNMENT has launched a nationwide inspection programme to scrutinise the issuance of liquor licences by local authorities, amid concerns over the proliferation of bottle stores and the sale of alcohol and drugs to minors.
The National Liquor Inspectorate Programme, being implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, will assess whether local authorities are complying with laws and regulations governing the issuance of liquor licences.
Speaking to Zimpapers in Kadoma on Thursday, Ministry permanent secretary Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti said the programme would target local authorities where liquor outlets had allegedly been licensed in inappropriate locations or in excessive numbers.
“Public Works has embarked on a programme called the National Liquor Inspectorate Programme,” Eng Muguti said.
“What we are doing is going from each local authority to local authority, checking on how liquor licences were being issued.”
He said some licences had been issued to premises located near hospitals, schools, old people’s homes and places of worship, contrary to regulations.
Eng Muguti also raised concern over the concentration of liquor outlets in some shopping centres, saying some areas had more bottle stores than other essential businesses.
“We have liquor licences which have been issued to facilities which are next to hospitals, facilities which are next to schools, facilities which are next to old people’s homes and even places of worship, and this is not allowed,” he said.
The inspections will establish whether due process was followed when licences were issued, with local authorities expected to account for any irregularities.
Eng Muguti said the Government was also reviewing liquor licensing laws to strengthen accountability and curb the abuse of licences, particularly amid growing concerns over drug and substance abuse among young people.
He said some licensed liquor outlets were allegedly being used as points for the sale of illicit drugs and for supplying alcohol to underage people.
“We are reforming those laws to ensure that they are very strict laws. It is going to be very hard in this country to get a liquor licence because you need to be very accountable for that licence,” he said.
Eng Muguti said the inspections would be conducted countrywide, with local authorities expected to take corrective action where there was an excessive concentration of liquor outlets.
“Where we find that there is a clutter of bottle stores, it is not going to be our responsibility to clean it up. The local authority knows the law,” he said.
He called for greater accountability across all tiers of Government, saying local authorities should not shift responsibility for regulatory failures to central Government.
“It’s time for every tier of Government to be accountable and not everything to be blamed on central Government,” Eng Muguti said.
