Kigali: Hakusanyijwe amacupa y’inzoga z’ibyuma miliyoni enye mu minsi 10

Umujyi wa Kigali has announced the start of a campaign to eliminate non-compliant alcoholic beverages, beginning in three districts where over four million glass bottles of metal-labeled alcohol have already been collected.

In a notice posted on its official website on 12 May 2026, the City of Kigali declared the public destruction of seized non-compliant alcohol. “Today we begin the destruction of non-compliant alcohol collected across all sectors of Kigali. To date, nearly four million bottles of these beverages have been gathered,” the statement said.

Before destruction, the beverages will first be diluted with water to reduce environmental impact, then incinerated at the main Nduba landfill using approved methods and guidelines.

The Rwandan government launched its nationwide crackdown on non-compliant alcoholic beverages on 2 May 2026. After ten days, the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) had already closed over 150 factories producing non-compliant alcohol and suspended the importation of 47 types of foreign alcoholic beverages. This decision followed an investigation revealing that these factories were adding unsafe levels of ethanol to their products, endangering consumers’ health.

The government reported that since January 2026, over 500 people have sought medical treatment due to consumption of non-compliant alcohol, with 50 deaths recorded. Nationwide, 11,000 people have suffered injuries from these beverages. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) also announced that 80 individuals have been arrested for producing non-compliant alcohol.

In Kigali alone, four million glass bottles of metal-labeled alcohol have been collected within ten days.