GOVERNMENT PROMISES TO FIGHT DRUG MERCHANTS

Nairobi

The Government has admitted the existence of drug barons in Mombasa and
promised a crackdown on them.

Local Government minister Karisa Maitha said the Government was in the
process of flushing out the barons who have made densely populated
neighbourhoods unsafe.

Kibokoni, in the Old Town, he said, was infamous for hosting the barons,
majority of them traffickers. Certain narrow alleys of the Old Town are
no-go zones as they have been taken over by drug dealers.

He said teenagers had been reduced to zombies due to drugs, as their parents
helplessly watched them get wasted.

He disclosed that his ministry had received Sh40 million to educate street
children and part of it would benefit the community in Old Town.

"Parents should also monitor the movements of their children," he said.

Smoking of bhang and other drugs would only come to a stop if only there was
cooperation between the residents and drug sellers, since they had the
responsibility of informing the police.