There is a tiny village in Rachuonyo District on the shores of Lake Victoria known as Maguti. It has approximately 48 homesteads, out of which 16 deal in chang'aa, eight in busaa and three in bhang. The rate at which chang'aa [illicit liquor] is brewed and consumed is alarming. The fact that the village's economic mainstay is largely fishing, alcohol and drug abuse have invaded it. Since fishing is supposed to be such hard work, it cannot be done on "an empty head". [continues 253 words]
NAIROBI - Environment and Natural Resources Minister, Dr Newton Kulundu, yesterday ordered DCs to launch a major crackdown on leaders cultivating bhang in forests. Kulundu said his ministry had established that some leaders were involved in cultivation of the drug as it was a "lucrative but illegal business" to enrich themselves. He told DCs to destroy the plantations in forests and arrest suspects so they can face the full force of the law. Kulundu was speaking at Lugulu village, in Webuye Constituency during the burial of a Kenyatta University student, James Waluchio. [continues 92 words]
Nairobi The Government plan to uproot hundreds of hectares of bhang in Mt Kenya Forest might mark the end of an era for drug dealers. The move will set the Government against powerful drug barons who have made a fortune by destroying the forest for more than a decade. It might also show the lack of commitment by the former Kanu regime to evict bhang growers from the forest. During a recent tour of the forest, Government officials led by Environment minister Newton Kulundu were shocked to find well-kept and blossoming bhang plots. [continues 886 words]
The Kenyatta University administration has appealed to the institution's community to help reduce drug abuse among students. Vice-Chancellor George Eshiwani said a third of the students were involved in the vice. Prof Eshiwani said abuse of hard drugs by the students was one of the institution's biggest problems. He said several cases had been identified and that addicts were being rehabilitated. "This is a major problem which we have to tackle alongside others like HIV/Aids," he said. He was addressing a Sunday service at the university's Christ the Teacher Catholic chapel. [continues 168 words]
Bhang goes by many names. Some call it marijuana, others kaya, iley, calley, opium, or ganja. In some local languages, it is known as enyasore, njaga, enjaka or sikhwabi. But botanists and other scientists call it cannabis sativa. Over the years, the consumption and trade in this herb has been extremely controversial world-wide. Kenya's statute books make it an offence to possess, cultivate and sell the herb. If caught by the long arm of the State, one can be fined up to Sh10 million, or imprisoned for not less than 10 years. It can even attract a lifetime sentence. [continues 1411 words]
A national workshop on drugs abuse in Angola will be held November 18-19 in Luanda, in the framework of the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Combating Illicit Drugs. This was announced Friday in Luanda by Johnny Strijdom, senior officer of SADC drug control programme. He said the meeting will look at a comprehensive strategy against drugs abuse in Angola, in line with the regulations of the above mentioned protocol. Workshop participants will include national police officers, magistrates, representatives of health and education sectors and from non-governmental organisations. [continues 173 words]
When former Provincial Commissioner Joseph Kaguthi was brought out of retirement to co-ordinate a new National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada), it was assumed a new resolve would be injected into the fight against what could become a national scourge. Mr Kaguthi, after all, was well-known as a tough, efficient, decisive and no-nonsense administrator - just the kind of person required to lend muscle and steel to such an important campaign. One and a half years later, there is little to show for Nacada. True, Mr Kaguthi has been much in the news. He spearheads numerous anti-drug awareness campaigns and has volubly taken the message wherever he can. Only yesterday was he chief guest at such a function. And he announced a new initiative - to declare war on tobacco and alcohol advertising. [continues 238 words]
The amount of narcotics seized at Kenya's key entry points in the past two months is an indication of a malignant problem gradually destroying society, but which authorities seem not to be taking seriously. The merchants of death that are drug traffickers are placing Kenya on the unenviable map of the family of nations notorious for the narcotics trade. The deluge is so strong that it has swept away anti- drugs authorities. A couple of weeks ago, a Kenyan-based foreigner was arrested with one of the largest hauls of narcotics ever recovered. He died in custody in inexplicable circumstances. It happened at a time when the public was reeling from a court case involving an airline official charged with trafficking in heroin. [continues 792 words]
Students angered by the death of a youth at police hands clashed with authorities at the University of Nairobi. An official of the Kenya Red Cross Society said at least 17 students and 10 police officers were injured in the fighting, in which students threw stones and officers wielded batons and eventually used tear gas and water cannon. The riots forced closure of all major highways connecting the city center to its western suburbs. The authorities said the police were questioning a group suspected of selling marijuana and shot the student in self-defense when he rushed them with a knife. [end]
Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have used teargas to disperse a demonstration by students who are protesting over the death of another student shot by police on Thursday. Students at Nairobi University were confined to their halls of residence overnight after they started throwing stones in protest, but they took to the streets again on Friday morning. The campus was sealed off and Nairobi's central thoroughfare, Uhuru Highway, was reportedly closed to traffic for a while on Friday morning. [continues 208 words]
For many years, Kenyans and their Government left the issue of drugs to the anti-narcotics police unit, which focused more on cracking down on trafficking and use of cocaine, heroin, mandrax and hashish, these being mostly substances on the United Nation's list of illicit drugs. The small-time, mostly local but equally addictive and deadly drugs, the most common of which are cannabis sativa and miraa, were largely ignored. Now, a year after the Government formed the National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada), the organisation says it has established in the surveys it has conducted around the country that Kenya is a nation deeply under the influence of drugs. [continues 1483 words]
Scientists have discovered medicinal property in cannabis sativa and the prohibited drug is now prescribed as a pain killer, a Nairobi university don has said. Prof. James Ochanda, head of Bio-Technology Department at the University of Nairobi, told journalists in Kisumu that UK scientists have found medicinal properties in bhang and have developed it into the powerful painkiller, Moffin. He said the scientists remove the narcotic genes which addict users before turning it into a pain killer. Prof. Ochanda, who also heads African Bio-Technology Stake-holders Forum (ABSF), an NGO registered last year, said that large farms are being set aside in the UK for growing of bhang for medicinal purposes. Moffin, he explained, is sprayed into the mouths of patients as a pain killer. [end]
A police reservist and an informer were yesterday sentenced to a total of 45 years in jail after they were convicted of trafficking in hashish. Mohammed Taib and Idris Yusuf were sentenced to 30 years and 15 years respectively for trafficking in hashish whose value is estimated at Sh500 million. They will, however, each serve 15 years in jail. Passing sentence, Nairobi Chief Magistrate Boaz Olao said the circumstances of the case against the duo dictated that a deterrent sentence be imposed. [continues 342 words]
We note with dismay reports that 10 acres of bhang in Laikipia District have been secretly harvested to evade police action. Clearly, there are very sophisticated actors involved in this scandal. They are playing for big stakes and have the resources to mobilise support to clear an entire plantation in less than three days. The bhang was discovered at Ndurumo village on Sunday, but by Tuesday, when police returned with an entourage of journalists, it had been harvested. Kenyans have every reason to be concerned that such goings-on should take place. It points to a powerful conspiracy involving people willing to go to any lengths for drug money. [continues 191 words]
The authorities in Uganda have destroyed more than twenty hectares of land under marijuana cultivation, during a narcotics raid in the district of Busia along the Kenyan border. Fourteen people have been arrested. Villagers in the area said persistent drought had cut off the growth of other crops and the poor soil could only grow the marijuana plant. The operation followed meetings between narcotic officials of Kenya and Uganda [end]
Nearly 250 people, many of them blinded and seriously ill, streamed into Nairobi hospitals yesterday after drinking home brewed alcohol believed laced with methanol. The death toll two days after the illicit mixture hit the streets stood at 68 and police expected more victims. [end]
Police officers and members of the Judiciary are widely suspected of colluding with known drug traffickers to frustrate arrests and convictions. It is widely believed in police, court and media circles that the kingpins of drug cartels operating in Nairobi and Mombasa are protected by senior government officials and politicians. Anti-narcotics Unit officers cite instances where they have taken drug traffickers to court only to see them to be released on bond. The suspects have then promptly disappeared. In some cases, courts are tricked into releasing drug suspects on medical grounds. An example is Pakistani businessman Asif Massoud Khan, who was released by the then Chief Magistrate, Mr Omondi Tunya, on Sh250,000 bail on June 26,1996, pending hearing of an extradition case against him. [continues 636 words]
A Kenyan street preacher has been jailed for two years for hiding cannabis in his Bible. Eric Museto, who belongs to a local African church, had pleaded that he was a first-time offender and the drug was for his own use. But Jane Ondieki, a Nairobi magistrate, said the offence had been compounded by its blasphemous nature. Smoking cannabis, known locally as bhang, is common in Kenya, but is illegal. [end]
NAIROBI (AANA) January 11 - Kenya's drug problem has been compared to that of Columbia as large forest lands are cleared and planted with bhang (canabis sativa) while the plantations are protected by guards armed with bows and arrows. Vast areas of Mount Kenya Forest and other parts of the country have been cleared and planted with bhang bushes while government officers are restricted from approaching the plantations, says Kenya's former vice president for a decade, Mwai Kibaki, who is now leader of official opposition leader in Parliament and heads the Democratic Party of Kenya. [continues 1061 words]
Inside Kenya
