If you want a clear picture of the effects of drug abuse in Kenya, the I advise that you take a trip to the coastal county of Mombasa.
I however have to warn you that the pictures you will see will be far from the ones you’re used to seeing on the Internet. The situation is pathetic. There are more than 8,000 Heroin addicts in Mombasa alone.
Efforts by the government have not bore any fruits. The number continues to grow daily. Families have lost productive members to addiction.
But who should take the blame? Can the govt really fight drug cartels, when senior officers are the same ones who are being implicated in the drug business.
Last month, Kenyans breath a sigh of relief after notorious Akasha brothers accused by US prosecutors of playing key roles in the family’s drugs business pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in New York. Baktash Akasha and his brother Ibrahim pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges, including distribution of heroin and conspiracy to import drugs into the US.
During the Akashas’ bloody reign as one of Kenya’s most notorious crime families, the coastal region was awash with drugs that neither the police nor the judicial system appeared able to tame.
It now seems the brothers have decided to spill the beans on the Kenyan officials who helped them evade justice. According to a story by The Daily Nation on Thursday, a Cabinet Secretary and a governor are being investigated.
Tourism CS Najib Balala has since been revealed as the man being investigated. The news has not gone down well with a majority of Kenyans.
Drug lords are known but you’re not allowed to mention them, you will be headed! They’re from prominent families! some of them are County managers. And all of them are protected by the authorities that are supposed to arrest them! They kill our youths slowly.#DrugLordsKe
— NaiBlogger (@naiblogger) November 22, 2018
How do these drug lords feel when they eat and drink of money gained from taking the lives of youths away? #DrugLordsKE
— benson mugo (@bensonmugambi58) November 22, 2018