Bill
A bill proposing the ban on the sale and supply of Muguka beyond designated areas in Garissa town is expected to be passed this week at the Garissa County Assembly.
According to Sankuri MCA Abdirahman Mohamed Ali the Bill that seeks to introduce stringent measures on licencing and the sale of the stimulant drug within designated areas in Garissa town will be published in the Kenya gazette latest Friday.
Under the new legislation, all nine sub-counties in Garissa County, except specified zones within Garissa town, would be subject to restrictions on Muguka trade. “The bill has the support of the entire house and by extension members of the public will be unanimously endorsed. We expect public participation to commence immediately after its publication,” Abdirahaman said.
The Sankuri Ward MCA who sponsored the Bill said the ban on the sale, consumption and transportation of Muguka in the nine sub-counties outside Garissa town was necessitate by a public outcry on the effects and addiction of the substance. He said Muguka drug has had a significant impact on pastoralists areas outside Garissa town that were formerly devoid of addiction.
“Families were losing their livestock to wild animal attacks due to the neglect of young herders who were addicted to Muguka. The drug reached remote areas that were free from drug consumption, it was a real disaster that required an urgent intervention,” he said.
He said students in primary and secondary schools were getting lured into Muguka abuse, leading to a high rate of school dropouts. Recently, religious leaders from Garissa County had a meeting with the members of the Garissa County Assembly, urging them to fast track the bill on the ban of Muguka in Garissa County.
During the meeting, the religious leaders highlighted the effects of the drug among the youth.The speaker of the county assembly, Abdi Idle said that the assembly recommend a proposal to seek the county government’s support for those involved in the miraa trade to have an alternative source of income.
Idle cited a programme by the Mandera County government targeting miraa traders that seeks alternative small-scale business in a bid to end the trade before a ban was imposed. Two days ago, the High Court in Mombasa declined to lift the ban on Muguka and miraa in three coastal counties of Mombasa, Tana River and Kilifi.
Justice Olga Sewe said the orders sought by petitioners Peter Odhiambo Agoro and Michael Mutembei Makarina had been issued by another court.
