The Isiolo County Commissioner(CC), Herman Shambi has warned police officers implicated in drug deals, saying they were damaging government’s public image.
Speaking to Council of elders, interfaith group and civil Society representatives on Wednesday, Shambi said some consignment of bhang seized in a recent police crackdown would be set on fire at an agreed date and venue.
“The seized drugs will be torched in open space outside Huduma Centre in Isiolo town to ensure it does not get smuggled back to members of the public from police or law courts custody,” he said.
Two weeks ago, a GSU vehicle was netted in Isiolo with 18 bags of bhang where two officers and four civilians were nabbed and arraigned in court.
In another recent incident, a nurse and a driver were also nabbed by police officers at Makuyu roadblock in Murang’a County while transporting drugs to Nairobi.
The CC challenged members of the public to expose all the drug dealers in their midst, saying that the County had earned a bad reputation in the recent past due to several individuals who had been found trafficking drugs.
He also said the county has been infiltrated by scores of illegal immigrants, besides being a fertile recruitment ground for Al shabaab terrorists.
Shambi commended the Judiciary for directing the police to be providing them with correct weight of seized drugs at the time of apprehending suspects and the prevailing market value.
He appealed the religious leaders and civil society organizations to lead from the front by campaigning against the drugs and give vital information to security agents by using ‘988’ hotline in which one is only supposed to give the nature of crime observed and the informant’s locality without own identity.
Shambi asked all the deputy county commissioners in the region to take full charge of patrols in search of drugs dealers, while the chiefs are supposed to educate wananchi on the dangers of the drugs.
Led by Sheikh Col. (Rtd) Hassan Bonaya and Bishop Stephen Kalunyu, the interfaith group members said that drugs like bhang previously the seized by police officers went back to market, adding that the government should now be thorough in fighting the vice.
Col. Bonaya said that some security officers were involved in the drug syndicate and urged the county security team to discipline those implicated.
He said bhang transporters from Ethiopia used Isiolo routes as their conduit to Nairobi with some of the culprits using motorbikes and even government vehicles to transact their illegal business.
He urged security organs in Wajir and Marsabit counties to be in the frontline in mitigating the menace because of their proximity to neighboring country where bhang originates.
The Inter faith Secretary General, Bishop Kalunyu said the county had a dented image because of failure by neighbouring counties to curtail trading in illicit drugs.
He said that good citizenship protects the laws of the country, but some crooked police officers have turned to be agents of drug trafficking against the oath of office they took after training.
By Abduba Mamo/David Nduro
