Kenya is among countries that have made great strides in controlling the prevalence of illicit tobacco trade, a new World Bank report shows, citing implementation of tight measures by the government. In the report titled ‘Confronting Illicit Tobacco Trade: A Global Review of Country Experiences,’ the World Bank says Kenya has invested substantially in taxation and product tracking systems of controlling illicit trade in tobacco products since the early 2000s.
“Kenya has invested substantially in illicit trade in tobacco products control and reaped impressive rewards. The country’s new excisable goods management system for tobacco and alcohol products was introduced in 2013-14 and has proven both more effective and less expensive than the previous system,” says the World Bank. The findings of the study offer hope for Kenya policymakers in reducing the prevalence of tobacco, a product that kills at least half of long-term smokers and accounts for more deaths each year than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.
The efforts of the government are all the more impressive, given Kenya’s broader difficulties in addressing accountability issues in public-sector management, the report further says. World Bank lauds Kenya for strengthening both the system and enforcement, including the related penalties and tobacco tax administration. The report adds that the approach of consensus building through key stakeholder participation has proved to be much more beneficial than piecemeal measures that only have a short-term effect.