The Sh1 Billion Allocation to Boost Miraa Farmers in Kenya Is Godsend but Critics Have Their Concerns

The recent move to allocate Sh1billion to boost miraa farmers in Kenya is a blessing to the farmers but market for the commodity still remains a big challenge.

Until recently, miraa had been deemed a rejected crop following the controversies after the international ban in the European market in 2014.

The situation changed two weeks ago when President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law, a bill categorising miraa as a cash crop.

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FURIOUS Kenyan lawmakers have submitted a parliamentary motion to seize British-owned land, if the former colonial power does not rescind its ban on multimillion-dollar exports of the "herbal high" khat, reports said yesterday.

MPs from Kenya's central Meru region, the country's key khat-growing area, urged the government to consider repossessing farms occupied by British farmers.

The motion read in parliament on Wednesday called for "compulsorily acquiring all land owned or acquired by the British," The Standard newspaper reported.

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Four organizations at the Coast have struck a partnership deal that will see them work together to rehabilitate thousands of drug addicts in the region.

The four, including Reach Out Centre, Muslims for Human Rights, Mewa Hospital and the Shariff Nassir Foundation have set aside an initial budget of Sh8 million for the programme.

The budget may however increase according to the success and needs of the rehabilitation programme. There are about 60,000 addicts of various drugs at the Coast with between 300-500 new addicts annually.

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Police in Kiambu are investigating a school has been accused of colluding with a clinic to steal from parents. Irene Wairimu, a parent at Gathiruini Boys Secondary School in Githunguri, said the administration sent for her and told her to take her son to a certain clinic to be tested for drugs.

The deputy headteacher gave her the doctor's contacts saying they refer students suspected of abusing drugs to Freedom from Addiction Organisation in Kiambu town

At the facility, Wairimu was charged Sh5,000 for the test and Sh8,000 for 10 counselling sessions. She grew suspicious when the doctor in charge, James Karuri, refused to give her the boy's results because she did not have the Sh8,000 to pay for counselling.

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Like those generals who used to discover that nuclear weapons were not a good thing about twenty minutes after they took off their uniforms and started collecting their pensions, we have had a parade of former presidents who knew that the war on drugs was a bad thing - but only mentioned it after they were already ex-presidents. Now, at last, we have one who is saying it out loud while he is still in office.

President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, the country that has suffered even more than Mexico from the drug wars, is an honest and serious man. He is also very brave, because any political leader who advocates the legalisation of narcotic drugs will become a prime target of the prohibition industry. He has chosen to do it anyway.

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Delegates attending a drug abuse conference in Mombasa yesterday came face-to-face with the crisis facing addicts at the Coast General Hospital.

The international and local delegates were shocked to find that the government and other agencies had failed to meet the standards for running a rehabilitation centre.

They lack adequate staff, food and detoxifying medicine for the rehabilitation centre, which was started late last year. Several challenges

Because of the shortcomings, the number of drug addicts seeking treatment at the centre has fallen.

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Having a conversation with the former boss of the National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada), Mr Joseph Kaguthi, on the drug abuse problem in Kenya is extremely enlightening.

Mr Kaguthi asserts that policymakers, civil society, and the citizenry need to arm themselves with the right information regarding substance abuse in order to assist in finding sustainable solutions.

Everyone concerned should know, for instance, that substances causing the greatest harm to the youth are those that are legally available, not the illicit ones.

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It took kicks, blows and a cocked AK-47 to raise a doped-up Abdallah Hassan Abdalla from a stupor and, incidentally, save his life. The scene was Mombasa's Mackinon Market. The lead actor in the story of his life was himself; the supporting cast was composed of an angry mob and regular policemen.

What followed next was a beating that opened his eyes to the dangers of heroin use. He could finally break free from a 12-year addiction that revolved around three things: heroin, syringes and himself. He had tried to escape with some money he had snatched from a woman.

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President's Relative Denies Police Charge After Arrest for Possession of a Single Marijuana Joint

Tomorrow morning, President Barack Obama will sit down in the White House to receive his daily intelligence briefing from security officials. Thousands of miles away in Kenya, his half-brother will be facing a rather different audience in a Nairobi courtroom.

George Obama, 26, was arrested yesterday for possession of marijuana, after allegedly being caught with a single joint of "bhang" near his home in a Nairobi slum. There was no suggestion that Obama was trying to deal in the drug but, according to Joshua Omokulongolo, the area police chief, rules are rules. "He is not a drug peddler," said Omokulongolo, "But it's illegal, it's a banned substance."

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There have been press reports that the authorities at Vigilance House may have "downgraded" the Anti-Narcotics Unit, the team that is assigned the task of fighting drug syndicates and arresting and prosecuting the masterminds.

The unit is normally headed by a top police officer, sometimes in the rank of senior assistant commissioner of police, which to some extent signals to the public the seriousness with which the force is taking the fight against drugs.

The police spokesman has told the Sunday Nation that the unit is merely being reorganised and will come out stronger. Whatever the case, it would be unwise not to have a strong anti-narcotics team given the disturbing drugs situation in the country.

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Drug abuse, absence of role models in society and failure by leaders to embrace dialogue when handling disputes have been cited as factors contributing to indiscipline in schools.

A parliamentary committee investigating the recent wave of unrest in secondary schools was told that the abuse of drugs and other substances among students was rampant.

The parliamentary committee chaired by Mosop MP David Koech was receiving views from Western Province at Kakamega High School. Fifteen schools in the province were affected by the unrest.

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The fight against drugs is top on the list of the school safety standards manual released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Education.

The stance taken seems to hinge on student involvement, through sharing of experiences with regard to occurrences in their neighbourhoods.

"Learners should discuss and suggest ways that can contribute to creating a drug-free school environment," the manual says.

It notes the role played by kiosks and small businesses located near schools and recommends "close monitoring of the activities with a view of taking any necessary remedial intervention".

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A group of idlers were smoking their marijuana in a Kampala slum market the other day.

The use of narcotic drugs is a serious offence though the penalties prescribed in the penal code are outdated and no longer deterrent enough. So the police organised to go and arrest them so they would at least spend a few weeks in the cooler.

You would have expected this to be a fairly simple operation. The police shows up in uniform, grab some three chaps while two manage to escape and life continues.

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Parliament must move with haste to enact the pending Anti-Narcotics Bill to save Kenya's youths from being ensnared by drug barons.

Reports that Kenya is increasingly becoming a popular transit route for drugs is quite alarming. But this is not news. The country became popular with these merchants of death two decades ago due to its lax anti-narcotics laws.

What is most distressing is the revelation that drug abuse in Kenya has increased by one percentage point in the last one year. But even more alarming is that a greater number of Kenyans, especially women, are being used as mules by West African drug lords. This could mean a few things.

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A cabinet minister has advised Kenyans against engaging in drug abuse and trafficking.

Prof George Saitoti, the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security, warned on Saturday that the practice could jeopardise the country's efforts to attain both the UN's Millennium Development Goals and the Vision 2030.

"Compounded by increasing HIV/Aids prevalence, poverty and insecurity, drug abuse could reverse any gains made in improving social, economic and political fronts," Prof Saitoti said in a speech read by assistant minister Orwa Ojode during the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking held at the National Youth Service College in Gilgil.

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The world seems to be losing the battle against the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs, a UN report has warned.

The 2008 World Drug Report, released on Thursday in Nairobi, indicates that an upsurge in supply and the development of new trafficking routes, mostly through Africa, could eventually strengthen drug demand in developed countries. This, it adds, will see the creation of new markets for some of the world's deadliest substances.

The report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime shows that Kenya is one of the five countries globally that have registered an increase in the use of heroin.

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The Government should create laws that bar judges from releasing drug traffickers on bond, Council of Imams and Preachers Secretary-General Sheikh Mohammed Dor said Sunday.

Sheikh Dor, also an ODM nominated MP, called on his colleagues to pass such a Bill when brought to parliament to curb the influx of narcotics into the country.

"Fining these millionaires a few thousands then setting them free is not enough. The Government should put them in custody with no bond and seize their property so as to bind their transactions and make it a lesson to other traffickers," he said.

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When investigating the multi-billion shilling narcotics business in Coast Province, one is met with authorities' conspiracy of silence.

There is a lot of suspicion and fear as some people warn that the probe is a dangerous affair.

Kenya is an important transit route for Southwest Asian hashish and heroin dealers. Europe is the primary market and North America the secondary destination.

Eastern Africa representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr Carsten Hyttel, once remarked that South American traffickers had moved into Kenya.

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Two Kenyan students who had been held in Malaysia on drug trafficking allegations have been released.

Former Gem Member of Parliament Mr Joe Donde told journalists that his daughter, Deborah Donde, and her friend, Emily Gathoni, were released after tests for marijuana turned negative.

The two had been arrested at the house of a Saudi Arabian friend, in which four kilogrammes of marijuana were found.

On Monday, Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju said the two students had tested positive for marijuana and were facing the death penalty if found guilty.

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One of the two Kenyan students arrested in connection with drug trafficking in Malasyia is the daughter of former Gem MP, Mr Joe Donde.

A Malaysian newspaper, New Straits Times, on Wednesday reported that all the four students had tested positive for marijuana.

A distraught Donde called The Standard on Thursday to break the news that his daughter, Deborah, was one of the two students in police cells in Kuala Lumpur.

"I have been in trauma since we were informed that she had been arrested over the allegations," he said.

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