The Hidden World of Changaa
Illegal Brewing in Western Kenya

The Hidden World of Changaa
Illegal Brewing in Western Kenya

The first time I met “Mamma,” she was serving changaa—strong, clear, and locally famous—to a dozen regulars. Her brew, nicknamed "kill me quickly," wasn’t just the strongest in the village. It was the most trusted. In a roadside settlement of fewer than 5,000 people in western Kenya, she was one of more than twenty brewers competing in an economy no one talks about publicly, but everyone participates in.

From the main road connecting Kisumu to the Ugandan border, the village looks like any other—dusty shops, tin roofs, kids walking to school. But step off the paved route, and a whole hidden economy reveals itself. Brewing dens tucked into banana groves, stills bubbling quietly behind mud walls. These places are both known and invisible. Everyone knows where to find them. Few outside ever see them.

Changaa, once banned outright, was legalized and regulated by Kenya’s Alcoholic Drinks Control Act in 2010. The intention was to bring a dangerous black market into the light. But in practice, little has changed. Commercial bottling requirements and tax burdens exclude most traditional brewers. Mamma, like many others, has been arrested repeatedly—eleven times by her count. And yet, her resolve never seemed to waver. Her pride in the potency of her brew remained intact.

I followed this story over four years. Mamma welcomed me back time and again—until she disappeared. Arrested. Released. Then re-arrested. When I saw her last, she was no longer brewing, instead picking corn for a neighbor. Her story wasn’t rare. It was the shape of what happens when a life collides with an unregulated market, poverty, and criminalization.

The stakes remain deadly. Today, deaths from contaminated changaa still occur, often due to methanol-laced batches. The WHO estimates that over 60% of all alcohol consumed in sub-Saharan Africa is unrecorded and often produced informally. In Kenya, changaa remains widely available, especially in rural and peri-urban communities where formal employment is scarce and escapism is affordable.

A glass of changaa still costs less than half a dollar—cheaper than beer, stronger than most spirits, and almost always within reach. Lowering taxes on regulated alcohol, as suggested by industry groups, may help. But in places like Mamma’s village, this isn’t just about price. It’s about proximity, trust, and the grim efficiency of something that works quickly.

This world isn’t hard to find if you know where to look. It’s in the kiosk where you buy phone credit, the back of a tuk-tuk, the shop next to the clinic. The deeper I went, the more obvious it became: this crisis isn’t hidden. It’s just ignored.

A group of people are gathered under a makeshift roof, with an elderly woman in a headscarf and apron at the center cooking over an open fire, while others hold cups and watch.
Three men sitting and laughing on the grass in a rural area at sunset, with houses and buildings in the background.
A person raising their arms in a dark room filled with people, with some individuals clapping and others raising hands, and bright light coming from an open doorway at the back.
People sitting inside a dimly lit room, with sunlight coming through a small window, engaging in conversation and smiling.
A woman in a yellow shirt sitting amidst a makeshift setting with fabric draped overhead, her face shows emotion, possibly tears of joy or sorrow, as another person stands nearby.
An elderly woman holding a young boy inside a dark, rustic room with a wooden ceiling and rough walls.
Person holding a yellow cup filled with brown liquid in a dark setting.
Children and an adult standing in the doorway of a building at dusk, with a young boy in the foreground holding a lantern, on a dirt ground scattered with trash.
A small shop with a sign reading 'Modern Wines & Spirits' under a cloudy evening sky. Several people, including children and adults, are gathered outside the shop, some engaged in conversation, in a rural setting with hills in the background.
A person lighting a cigarette with a match, with three other people visible in the background inside a dimly lit room, sunlight coming through a small window.
A rural settlement with makeshift houses built from corrugated metal and wooden sticks at sunset, with trees and open landscape in the background.
A woman with dark skin and short hair, wearing a yellow T-shirt, sitting inside a small, makeshift tent or shelter made of patterned fabric. She is looking directly at the camera with a serious expression.
A woman with black hair wearing a striped blue and white sweater and ripped jeans is kneeling outdoors on grass, surrounded by green foliage.
A group of people sitting around a wooden table, with some smoking or emitting smoke, in a dimly lit room.
A person lying on the ground between two mud buildings in a rural area on a sunny day.
Person in a blue shirt bending over in a dark room with sunlight streaming through a window, surrounded by a yellow bucket, a green basin, and wooden furniture.
A young person squatting outdoors next to a cooking pot on an open fire with smoke rising. The person is wearing a checkered shirt and patterned skirt, with dirt on their hands and face. There are yellow and white buckets nearby, and a rough, dirt wa
A person cooking over an open fire outdoors, with onlookers and a woman in the background.
A young girl running along a dirt path beside a weathered, beige wall in a neighborhood with simple houses and scattered trash.
A large tree with thick, twisting branches and lush green leaves in the foreground, overlooking a rustic village with old buildings and greenery during daylight.
A young boy standing in front of a wall painted with horizontal orange, blue, and black stripes; his shadow is cast on the wall behind him, and he is holding an object in his hands.
A woman carrying a young child walks down a dirt path at sunset, with other people sitting and walking nearby, surrounded by greenery.
A man in a jacket and beanie stands outdoors at sunset, with a landscape of trees and hills in the background and a partly cloudy sky.
Two men are dancing in the middle of a dirt road, with a sunset sky and trees in the background. A person is lying on the grass nearby, looking at a phone, in a rural setting with more people walking in the distance.
People walking and playing outside in a rural village during dusk, with wooden houses, electrical wires, and trees in the background.
Exterior of a small butchery shop with a sign reading 'Hygienic Butcher' in a rural setting during dusk. Inside, people are shopping for meat, with some hanging and displayed. Several motorcycles are parked outside.
Silhouettes of people and motorcycles on a dirt road at sunset with a dark sky and few clouds.
Children playing by a river in a lush green area during evening.