Patiala Distillers Kenya Limited denied claims that it is owned by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki at a 2 October 2026 press conference at its Mlolongo factory. The company said the Deputy President does not appear in its public registration records, and demonstrated anti-counterfeiting features on its bottles. The defence follows public scrutiny of its brands, including a 2021 KRA charge and a June 2026 parliamentary question.

Patiala Distillers Kenya Limited has denied that it is owned by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, after politicians at a recent rally made the claim. The alcohol manufacturer held a press conference at its factory in Legacy Business Park, Mlolongo, on 2 October 2026 to set the record straight.

The company said all business registration documents are public, and that anyone checking the company structure would find the Deputy President does not appear in it. It described the claim as a motivated attack, timed for the high season and aimed at audiences in the Mount Kenya region.

What is Patiala Distillers, and what does it make?

Patiala Distillers Kenya Limited is a manufacturer and distributor of alcoholic beverages based in Mlolongo, off Mombasa Road. Its portfolio includes Blue Ice Vodka, Diamond Ice Liquor, Best Classic Gin, Best Gold Classic Brandy and Flying Horse, among other brands.

The company says its factory operates under the excise-factory class, with a resident Kenya Revenue Authority officer on site to verify tax compliance.

What did the company show the press?

The company's quality assurance and marketing staff walked journalists through the security features on a genuine bottle. The demonstration centred on three checks: a scannable KRA excise stamp that verifies through the tax authority's app, a batch number and manufacture date printed on every bottle, and a tamper-evident cap that cannot leak or be resealed.

Staff said genuine labels are uniformly applied and cannot be peeled off, while counterfeit labels peel and sit unevenly. They said Diamond Ice carries a 15% alcohol-by-volume marking, clearly stated on the label. The company framed the exercise as consumer protection, arguing that counterfeit bottles end up blamed on Patiala.

Why is Patiala facing scrutiny?

The press conference did not happen in a vacuum. The company has been the subject of public and regulatory attention before.

In 2021, the Kenya Revenue Authority arraigned a director of Patiala Distillers Limited over charges of selling alcoholic beverages affixed with counterfeit excise stamps. Enforcement officers had found 178 bottles of Blue Ice Vodka with counterfeit stamps at a shop in Nairobi, and investigations linked the supply back to the manufacturer. The director denied the charge.

In June 2026, the Member of Parliament for Mathira asked the National Assembly about alleged circulation of harmful, adulterated alcoholic drinks, naming several Patiala brands including Blue Ice Vodka, Blue Ice Coconut, Best Classic Gin and Diamond Ice. The question sought the licensing status of the brands and details of any tests by the Government Chemist and the Kenya Bureau of Standards.

A February 2025 High Court ruling, in Patiala Distillers Limited versus the Deputy County Commissioner, restrained the suspension and ban of the company's Diamond Ice and Flying Horse brands in Mathira East Sub-County.

The wider counterfeit problem

The company's defence sits inside a larger national story. A 2025 Euromonitor International study commissioned by the Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya, and cited by the Anti-Counterfeit Authority, found that illicit alcohol accounted for 60% of Kenya's alcohol market by volume in 2024.

Counterfeiters collect genuine bottles, replicate labels and clone KRA tax stamps, then refill them with cheap or dangerous liquor. The company said a death was recently reported after someone consumed concentrated alcohol, and that politicians had seized on it.

What happens next?

The company has asked consumers to check the stamp, batch number and cap before drinking, and to report suspected fakes. It says it employs hundreds of people directly and thousands indirectly, and pays millions of shillings in tax.

The ownership claim is the kind that is easy to make and hard to put away. Registration records are public, but so is the political season in which the claim arrived.

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