MPs tell State to crack down on drug lords
MPs have challenged government agencies to seal loopholes used to smuggle hard drugs into the country.
National Assembly Health Committee members spoke after they came face to face with the ugly truth of the drug menace in Mombasa when they visited drug dens in the city centre and at the Miritini Rehabilitation Centre.
The members included vice chair Patrick Munene (Chuka Igambang’ombe), Mathenge Duncan (Nyeri Town), James Nyikal (Seme), Joshua Oron (Kisumu Central) and Antony Kibagendi (Kitutu Chache South).
“We can’t be burying our heads in the sand that hard drugs are not in this country because today I have seen young people with cocaine and heroin and the question that begs is where it is coming from?” Munene said.
He urged the government to crack the whip on drug barons and the sources of the drugs destroying the lives of young Kenyans.
Munene said government agencies have intelligence and cannot fail to know where the heroine comes from.
The MPs were impressed by the rehabilitation of drug addicts at Miritini. They encourage other addicts to seek treatment.
Dr Ruth Laibon, CEO of the National Syndemic Disease Control Council said injecting drug practices is one of the key contributing factors to HIV/Aids spread in Kenya especially among men.
She said: “The prevalence is about 18.7 per cent for people who inject drugs and that is quite high compared to other populations.”
Nyeri Town MP Mathenge Duncan called for the decentralization of government chemists for the fight against illicit drugs to be meaningful.
