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{
    "id": 273094,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/273094/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 440,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ms. A. Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Mututho brought a Bill in this House on alcohol. That is a job that NACADA could have done on their own, but it is not in their mandate. It is not their strength. They could only give Mr. Mututho back-up support. The Bill to anchor NACADA into law has been in a draft form at NACADA since 2004. I took the initiative to bring that Motion in 2006 and we passed it in 2007. We again passed it in 2008 and when we did so, the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration ad Internal Security told us that NACADA has a draft Bill that they would bring to the House. From 2008 until today, we have been waiting for NACADA to do that. I do not blame them for not doing it because it is not in their mandate and in their strength. So, I want us, as a House, to give them the powers to deal with issues and look at national policies and laws that can assist in fighting the demand, alcohol, narcotics and any other addictive substances. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, just to give you an example, in 2006 when we had a major crisis of students in schools drinking alcohol in sachets, the Ministry of Trade developed a regulation that stated that no alcohol can be sold in a collapsible bottle or sachets. That made a big difference in the amount of alcohol that was being drunk in schools. So, if we give NACADA that mandate to deal with the issue of ensuring that we are dealing with the laws, it will go a long way in dealing with that. The fight against drug and alcohol addiction is a two front issue; that is, supply and demand. Until the agencies that are dealing with the two ends of that business come together and talk to each other, we will not be able to have a more co-ordinative measure. The next thing that we are adding into NACADA’s mandate is that we are asking them to be the agencies to call those co-ordination meetings and deal with the co-ordinative component. We are also adding the task in developing and maintaining proactive co- operation with regional and international institutions so that we do not continue fighting alcohol in sachets when maybe there is another way that our kids are getting addicted. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have spoken a lot about this problem. We know how serious the problem of drugs and alcohol addiction is in the country. Our job is to ensure that there is an institution that deals with it. I would want to say that those persons benefitting from the profits of alcohol and drugs are serious lobbyists. In fact, we are more scared of the ones who are into narcotics because they hide. You only hear it in whispers but the alcohol and cigarette lobby is an open lobby that is allowed to work even within the civilized society. So, I would like to urge my colleagues to pass this Bill so that we leave this country with an agency that is going to deal with this matter in a comprehensive manner. With those few remarks, I would like to ask Mr. Mututho to second the Bill."
}