Despite the fact that county governments have ultimate mandate in regulation of alcohol trade in the counties and enactment of new laws, alcohol trade is still a big issue in Kenya. The study therefore investigated the effects of policy regulation on alcohol trade in Kirinyaga West, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. It was guided by the following objectives; to identify how licensing regulations affect alcohol trade in Kirinyaga county, to establish how enforcement regulations affect alcohol trade in Kirinyaga County, to assess how conformity with requirements affect alcohol trade in Kirinyaga county. This study is beneficial to alcohol regulation board in Kirinyaga County and also to the government of Kenya since it contains beneficial information on alcohol trade regulation. The study adopted availability theory and single distribution theory pioneered by Single Eric and Sully Ledermann respectively. The research used descriptive research design using a target population of 349 participants from 38 urban centres within Kirinyaga West Sub County. The sample size of alcohol traders was determined using 10% as a representation of target population. Hence, the numbers of respondents were 35 alcohol traders. The multistage cluster sampling technique was utilized to draw a sample of 5 towns from three wards within the Kirinyaga west sub county and thereafter snowballing used to select a sample of 7 alcohol traders from each sampled towns giving a total of 35 alcohol traders. Key informants for interview included: a member of County Licensing Committee, sub-county Commissioner, 2 Chiefs, 4 assistant Chiefs and 2 police officers in the region under study selected purposively to be used for interview. Questionnaires and interview guide were used in data collection. The research instruments were validated and their reliability was proved. Pilot study was conducted in the town excluded in the study. Quantitative data was analysed through descriptive statistics and presented in form of percentages, frequency tables, bar graphs, and pie chart whereas qualitative data was analysed through content analysis. Permission to undertake this research was sought from Kenyatta University, County government offices, respondents, and National Commission for Science, Technology and innovation (NACOSTI).The research revealed that issuing of license limits, enactment of alcohol licensing laws and penalties have by and large, helped to regulate alcohol trade in the county. Besides this, war on illicit brews is still a big issue in Kirinyaga County. Corruption has been seen to undermine enforcement of alcohol trade policies. The research also revealed that majority of alcohol traders do not adhere to stipulated business hours, while a good number of manufacturers do conform to the requirements of labelling standards. In few cases alcohol is sold to underage persons. The study recommended that County government should educate members of the public and officials involved in alcohol regulation on how to implement enforcement strategies successfully. There should be proper evaluation of licensing policies to ensure they work well in alcohol trade regulation. The government should also carry out interim audits on alcohol businesses to ensure they comply with required policies that would lead to successful alcohol policy regulations.
