A new Bill in the National Assembly would raise Kenya’s drinking age from 18 to 21. It would also end online alcohol sales and home delivery, and ban alcohol ads online.
The Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs Control Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was listed for First Reading, the first step in the House, on Thursday 5th November 2026. Its sponsor is Kimani Ichung’wah, the Leader of the Majority Party. None of it is law yet.
If you’re 18, 19 or 20
A licensed bar or shop couldn’t let you in, “whether alone or accompanied”. Anyone who knowingly sells you alcohol would risk a fine of up to KES 150,000, up to a year in jail, or both. Sellers couldn’t knowingly serve anyone with an under-21 either. So if you’re 25 and you walk into a shop with your 20-year-old brother, the shop couldn’t sell to you.
There’s no grace period for people already 18 to 20, though the Constitution counts them as adults. Ichung’wah told the House that many 18-year-olds are too young to make decisions about drinking.
Online sales and ads
County licensing committees couldn’t grant a licence for sales “through a vending machine, online sale, courier, home delivery or hawking”, and anyone already licensed to sell that way would get three months at most to clear their stock. That would hit services like Oaks & Corks, which sells itself as 24/7 alcohol delivery, and the liquor stores on Glovo.
In July 2025, we wrote that a national policy was banning online sales. It wasn’t. NACADA, the state agency against alcohol and drug abuse, said that same day the policy only recommended one. This Bill would write that ban into law. We also argued then that a ban would push orders to WhatsApp and boda riders. The Bill doesn’t say how anyone would catch those.
The ad clause reads: “A person shall not promote or advertise an alcoholic drink or any alcohol related brand element online.” Promotion covers any communication meant to get someone to drink or prefer a drink, including on social media. So we think a brand’s Instagram page and an influencer’s post would count. The maximum penalty is KES 500,000, three years in jail, or both.
Yet the same Bill sets up a committee to vet ads, online included, and lets the Cabinet Secretary set “the requirements for on-line marketing of alcoholic drinks”. Nothing in it settles which clause wins.
Where you could still buy a drink
Bars aren’t on the banned list. Supermarkets, restaurants, residential areas, schools, universities, petrol stations, bus parks and public beaches are among the places that couldn’t hold a licence. Drinking in a public place would also become an offence. The clause names restaurants but not bars. The maximum penalty is KES 10 million, five years in jail, or both.
A 300-metre rule already exists. The current Act stops new licences for drinking on the premises within 300 metres of learning institutions for under-18s, and the Bill changes that to under-21s. We think that brings in colleges and universities with younger students.
Transport and the KES 2 levy
Alcohol “shall be transported for distribution between the hours of 6.00 am and 6.00 pm”, so lorries couldn’t carry stock at night.
Manufacturers and importers would pay a levy of KES 2 for every litre, whatever the strength. So a 500ml beer carries KES 1. The Bill doesn’t say whether that reaches the shelf price.
What happens next
After First Reading, a Bill goes to a House committee, which must take public views. If it passes, this one also goes to the Senate, because it concerns county governments, and then to the President. It sets no start date, so it would take effect 14 days after publication in the Kenya Gazette.
We think the online clauses need the most work. If you run a bar or a delivery app, or you’re 18 to 20, the committee stage is when you get your say.
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