REPORT ON DRUGS ALARMING

Parliament must move with haste to enact the pending Anti-Narcotics
Bill to save Kenya's youths from being ensnared by drug barons.

Reports that Kenya is increasingly becoming a popular transit route
for drugs is quite alarming. But this is not news. The country became
popular with these merchants of death two decades ago due to its lax
anti-narcotics laws.

What is most distressing is the revelation that drug abuse in Kenya
has increased by one percentage point in the last one year. But even
more alarming is that a greater number of Kenyans, especially women,
are being used as mules by West African drug lords. This could mean a
few things.

One, Kenyans are becoming more daring given the harsh punishment
often meted out on those found with drugs. Secondly, drug operators
are becoming too sophisticated for our anti-narcotics agents, or
three, the agents are being compromised.

These are issues that Kenyans must explore with all seriousness if
the country is to safeguard the future of its youth.

Besides the rise in hard drug use in Kenya, an increasing number of
Kenyans are languishing in foreign jails, having been caught with drugs.

Kenyan authorities should take seriously the recent disclosure by the
UN Office on Drugs and Crime that there has been a major shift in
cocaine smuggling routes due to increased demand in Europe.

At the same time, the report says, Europe is adopting more stringent
policing measures, forcing the drug smugglers to shift base to West
Africa. What is our Government doing?