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{
    "id": 384944,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/384944/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 171,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 193,
        "legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
        "slug": "peter-nyongo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I join my colleagues in congratulating Mzee Machage for introducing this very important Motion. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to go further and ask the Government not just to declare this drug issue a national disaster, but to take very drastic actions to stop the problem of drug abuse and illicit brews in this country. But we must also look at the supply side, not just the demand side. How did this drug menace get into this country? Where does heroine and the other drugs come from? Where do they really come from? They do not come from the villages. If you look at drug trafficking, Kenya is a transit route for drugs coming from Asia and then to Europe. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in 1993/1994 or 1994/1995, I was the Chairman of the Public Investments Committee and I was approached by somebody – I will not mention the name--- Let me be precise; Kenyan soldiers were going to Yugoslavia for peace keeping and one soldier who had been dropped from the trip was very angry. He came to me and said that he was part of the anti-narcotics team in the army, and they were in North Eastern Province where they were monitoring drug trafficking from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya and that they were being given heavy support by the Americans. Whenever Kenyan peace keeping forces went out, the anti-narcotics team was to be part of the contingent because they wanted to make sure that our soldiers were not penetrated by drugs abroad, but he was stopped. He came to see me just to spill the beans, and he said: “Look, we are trying to fight this thing, but this thing is being perpetuated from very high quarters.” This will not stop until the perpetration stops. The drug lords are prepared to pay security officers a lot of money every week to be protected.” He even gave me number plates of secretaries in town who are being used by people to facilitate drug trafficking. This is a problem in our system which we should not be shy to talk about. Once people in authority break laws, everybody downstream will break the laws including children who end up having guns. As Sen. Sijeny was saying, a family was gang-held at Jamhuri Park. Where do these gangs come from? They do not suddenly come from Kawangware. They come from somewhere. Therefore, drug trafficking is also a very big thing in this country. We must stop drug trafficking from the source and this is not an easy thing. When I was told about this, I did not do anything about it because I did not want my neck chopped off. In fact, the person who told me said that I should be very careful. Several years later, I can talk about it because the people who were in power then are no longer there. The person warned me that this is a very sensitive issue. Since then, I have been reading a lot about drug trafficking. In fact, there was a big article in Newsweek, not too long ago which was talking about the various routes that drugs are being trafficked. The article was talking about the drug lords of Colombia and tracing their connections to Mombasa, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco and then into Europe. As a transit point, we have become victims of this issue. That is as far as heroine and cocaine are concerned. Those are the ones that are finishing people. In places like the Netherlands, marijuana has been legalized and controlled. When I was growing up, one of my grandfathers used to grow marijuana at the back of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}