The Government has declared war on drug cartels involved in planting Cannabis sativa (bhang) within Mt. Kenya Forest.
Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen said there has been a thriving vice of cultivation of bhang deep within the government forest typically reserved for wildlife and biodiversity conservation.
He said the issue of these clandestine narcotics farms affected Meru, Tharaka Nithi, and Embu Counties that formed part of the Upper Eastern Region.
“This is a matter that has become of grave concern to the security apparatus, and we must move with speed to smash the trade,” he said.
Speaking in Embu Town while winding up the Jukwaa La Usalama, Upper Easter Edition, CS Murkomen said they were working closely with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to eradicate the vice.
“We have asked security teams in the three counties to work together with KFS to ensure criminals using the forest to plant those dangerous plants are apprehended and dealt with,” he stated.
The CS also said on top of their agenda was war on second generation and illicit brews whose production, sale and consumption were on the rise in the region.
The CS said that despite the existence of a robust legal, regulatory, and administrative framework, illicit liquor was still a persistent challenge for the government.
This, he said, called for a change in approach, as the menace could not be dealt with by the security sector alone.
He said the issue required joint cooperation and support from the local community to ensure it is wiped out completely.
“Part of the approach we want to adopt is leveraging community support if we are going to succeed in this war,” the CS said.
He said the fight must start right at the sub-location level by sensitizing members of the public to their role in the war, including carrying out citizen arrests of culprits and presenting them to authorities.
He also appealed to political leadership not to undermine their efforts by interfering with arrests and prosecution of manufacturers and distributors.
“In some instances, we have witnessed leaders interfering with enforcement through calls, organization of protest, or harassment of police officers or local administrators,” he said.
Additionally, the CS complained that some of their officers were undermining the war by abetting illicit liquor businesses.
“I want to categorically state that every public officer who involves himself in any kind of criminal activity will not get any kind of support from the ministry but rather carry his/her cross,” he said.
By Samuel Waititu
