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"id": 225405,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Office of the President",
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"legal_name": "Joseph Kahindi Kingi",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to say a few things about the proposal made by hon. Abdalla. We are all in agreement that drug-trafficking and abuse has become an issue of great concern in our country, translating into a major cause of insecurity and rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. This causes a major threat to public health and quality of productive life, with direct implications on our political, economic and social wellbeing. The effects include escalation in violent crime, increase in the drug-dependent population and mounting financial burden on law enforcement, health care and social service delivery. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for many years, we have watched this industry grow into an organised business, with huge capital manpower, transportation and influence, without putting in place any meaningful measures to check it. Therefore, for us to realise any meaningful gains in this fight across the country, we must work together in the spirit of collaboration to save our people. We must put in place a strong co-ordinating authority to help us to do this. The Government identified the need to establish the said authority early last year in order to strengthen the campaign against drug abuse in the country. The National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) Advisory Board was established as a general board on 19th May, 2006, via a Gazette Notice. The President further appointed a Chairman of the NACADA Advisory Board via Gazette Notice No.3750 of 19th May, 2006, under Cap.446. Since then, the office of the Permanent Secretary, National Security and Provincial Administration has been making efforts to operationalise the Board and to harmonise the two by creating a Drug Abuse Control Authority as a body corporate. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Board is ready to implement its mandate April 18, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 695 immediately the Government puts in place the necessary facilitation. The functions of the Board are given, some of them being to develop legal and institutional framework for the control of drug abuse; to co-ordinate and regulate public education campaign against drug abuse; to mobilise resources for drug abuse control and prevention and to develop mechanisms of curbing drug abuse in schools and other institutions of learning. There are many more functions which are given to this Board. A comprehensive review of a national strategy for drug abuse control in Kenya which summarises policies, defines priorities and apportions responsibilities for drug control efforts in Kenya for the next five years has been drawn by NACADA in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders from both private and public sectors. This policy document was presented to all the Permanent Secretaries on 10th April, 2007, and NACADA is currently receiving very useful comments from them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a number of Parliamentary Committees, through their chairmen and the Clerk of the National Assembly, have also received the policy document and have been requested to propose a date when NACADA can make an official presentation of the same to them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) in Kenya continues to focus on the protection of our youth as a priority issue. To this end, there are specific initiatives that have been lined up to help curb drug abuse by young people in Kenya, and I am glad that progress is being made. The Board has been in office for less than one year, and has embarked on putting in place a sustainable structure and targeted programmes based on scientific evidence. To this end, a fact-finding national survey on treatment and rehabilitation facilities has just been completed to identify the key players and the kind of services provided with an aim of setting standards in this very critical area. The results will soon be made public. As we sit here, there is a one-week training for a team of researchers going on at the Stanley Hotel in preparation for a national survey on the prevalence, patterns and attitudes in the area of drugs and substance abuse in the different regions of this country. NACADA will open four regional offices next month to facilitate demand reduction efforts in the provinces, and also monitor, with the help of the Provincial Administration and the police drug trafficking and peddling activities. Special focus has been on sensitizing leaders at both institutional and community levels, universities and schools on drug abuse. These are areas that may not attract a lot of media attention and, therefore, lack of visibility even as a lot of work is being done. However, the Board has planned a huge media campaign when finances are availed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it may interest you, and the rest of the Members of Parliament, to know that the Board has no budget yet, and that NACADA, as Government Department, was allocated only Kshs52 million in the current financial year. The problem of drugs and substance abuse has reached alarming levels in this country. The protection and safeguarding of our youth and the general citizenry from the debilitating effects of drug-trafficking and abuse is a priority that cannot be ignored any further. We have some statistics which show the seriousness of this problem. For example, 27.7 per cent of students and 77.1 per cent of non-students are reported to be on long-term abuse of alcohol, while 8.3 per cent of students and 65.7 per cent of non-students are on tobacco, 2.8 per cent of students are on bhang, 9.1 per cent are on miraa and 3.4 per cent are on inhalants. The proportion of non-students on bhang, miraa and inhalants is 34.9 per cent, 55.1 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the complexities posed by drugs and substance abuse call for innovative and costly intervention. Careful planning is required to ensure co-ordinated intervention that will address all aspects of the problem. Specific actions may address law 696 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 18, 2007 enforcement, health education and economic development in general. NACADA realises the need to develop long-term strategies to deal with drug abuse and trafficking in all its complexities in order to lend overall coherence to the activities undertaken to fight drug abuse in this country. We want to consider the control of illicit supply, suppression of illicit trafficking, prevention and reduction of demand, treatment and rehabilitation. The protection and safeguarding of our youth and the general citizenry from the debilitating effects of drug-trafficking and abuse is a priority concern, and a noble task that must be performed with diligence. So, in view of the above, I wish to strongly support the proposed Bill. It will not only strengthen the body that is co- ordinating the fight against drug abuse in this country but will also facilitate the harmonisation of the current laws governing drug abuse. The Executive Order that has now been forwarded to the Head of State for necessary action is only but a stop-gap measure to facilitate NACADA to be able to deliver quick and quality services to the Government. The proposed Bill is timely, will provide an already proposed legal framework that will accompany the proposed Sessional Paper to be presented to the Cabinet very soon. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we, therefore, support the proposed Bill, because it seeks to do what we have not done for many years - to protect our citizens from the effects of drugs and substance abuse. Thank you."
}