Let’s be honest. If you’ve ever had drinks delivered late at night, chances are it wasn’t via some big flashy app. It was probably a boda guy named Kevo who knows the local wines and spirits lady by name and doesn’t ask too many questions.
Now, with NACADA’s new 2025 alcohol policy officially banning online sales and deliveries via platforms like Glovo, Jumia and even supermarkets, Kevo’s phone is about to ring off the hook.
The Street Will Always Find a Way
Look, I get it. The policy has good intentions. Protect the youth, reduce access, make alcohol less glamorous on Instagram, TikTok, and in ads. Brilliant. But here’s the catch: banning formal online retailers won’t eliminate access. It’ll just decentralize it.
People will still drink. They’ll just do it off-grid.
- That local wines and spirits shop? They’ll take your order over WhatsApp or a casual “niko kwa gate” phone call.
- Payment? M-PESA doesn’t ask questions. Neither does your local boda guy.
- Delivery? Instant. Sometimes faster than Jumia ever was.
You’ve now created a loophole economy. One that thrives precisely because it’s informal, invisible, and almost impossible to regulate.
A Ban on Official Online Sales Means a Boom for WhatsApp and Telegram Hustlers
This isn’t new. We’ve already seen this with other banned or highly-regulated items; be it prescription meds, shisha, or even streaming links. Telegram groups pop up. Word spreads. And soon, it’s business as usual. By kicking out structured players like Glovo, Jumia and established supermarkets, NACADA may have just opened the door to underground markets they can’t monitor.
At least with apps, there was a paper trail of user data, purchase history, and transaction logs. But with WhatsApp or Telegram orders and boda riders? There’s zero digital footprint.
No accountability. No oversight. Just vibes and booze.
Regulation Without Visibility Is Just Hope
The funny thing? Most people supporting this move imagine it’ll cut off alcohol access altogether. But when you regulate formal systems without building proper visibility into the informal ones, you just push people into the shadows.
Boda boda riders will be the new alcohol logistics fleet. WhatsApp groups will become the new e-commerce hubs. And enforcement? Good luck tracking down a guy whose entire “delivery app” is a phone call and a cash transaction.
What Should Have Happened Instead?
If it were up to me, I’d say: regulate, don’t restrict.
- Let online retailers like Glovo and Jumia stay, but enforce stricter age verification.
- Introduce digital tracking systems for licensed retailers.
- Maybe even add smart packaging with QR codes to confirm authenticity and trace delivery.
Because at least that gives NACADA a fighting chance to see what’s happening and respond accordingly.
This new policy will be hard to enforce in the online black market forming right under our noses. Banning the “big boys” won’t solve that. If anything, it gives more business to the boda guy with no license and zero paperwork.
It’s time we stop pretending people won’t innovate around bans. They always do, especially in Kenya.
And in 2025, it looks like Kevo the boda guy just got a promotion.
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