The Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya defence Forces,
Hon. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta declared war against illegal drug trafficking and
traffickers during the 2nd National Conference on Alcohol and Drug
Abuse organised by NACADA and which I had the privilege to attend and heard His
Excellency giving this order live and clear. His Excellency gave strong
statements such as: “I will not entertain any longer scenario all we do is just
give statistics on number of death and addicts (in relation to drug abuse)” he
also said “I have already given orders that all foreigners who are either deal
or suspected of engaging in drug trafficking to be deported and go back to their
own countries....”
This is very true since 21 foreigners were deported including
controversial Nigerian Antony Chinedu who is now free in Nigeria.
Personally, am very aware of the fatal dangers that
illegal drugs can cause to any individual since drugs chose no one, and any one
can be influence into abuse of such illegal drugs, both the rich and poor,
young and old, educated and uneducated, and that is why I fully support any law
or policy passed to control illegal drugs and ensure drug traffickers feel the
full weight of the law, since they are the people who have sent our fellow
Kenyans into the cemetery.
But the new
policy passed by His Excellency Uhuru
Kenyatta of “arrest and deport” whereby if a foreigner is arrested for drug
trafficking the police arrest him and the cabinet secretary(formerly known as
minister) for Interior and Coordination of National Government-Mr.Joseph
Ole Lenku will give an order that such person be removed and remain out of Kenya
either indefinitely or for a period he may prescribe, this is per section 43 of
the Kenyan Citizenship and Immigration Act,2011 which empowers the minister to
do so and even after the offender is deported it is no guarantee that he will
be prosecuted in his home country where he is deported to. And this was the
process which was followed which saw 21 drug traffickers being deported
This policy of “arrest and deport” am very
suspicious that it might encourage rather than discourage drug traffickers from
coming to Kenya. Firstly, think of a country such as China where just recently
five Kenyans were found guilty of drug trafficking and were sentenced to death!
And six others sentenced to life imprisonment also a country like Philippines
where a Kenyan woman, Asha Otieno Ogutu, 24 was jailed for life when he was
found in custody of drug at the airport in Philippines, Now, assume you are a
drug trafficker would you take drugs to China or Philippines where you will be either
sentenced to death or life imprisonment or will you take drugs to Kenya where
you will be “arrested and deported” and there is no guarantee that you will be
prosecuted in your home country? Am sure every Tom Dick and Harry will happily
bring their illegal drugs to Kenya.
Secondly, most Kenya drug lords are the “big fish”
in the Kenyan society and even though we have a new government with high
standards of qualification, since they have to fully comply with the integrity
chapter six of The Constitution and also the strict vetting they undergo, who
knows that a minister may be given “the golden handshake” and will close his
eyes on drug traffickers so that they be deported and not face justice in Kenya.
Thirdly, we all know law enforcement officers who
are “reformed” by name but their acts (some of them) are still in question. For
instance just recently an Administrative Police (AP) officer was arrested in
Kawangware with 40 kg of illegal ivory worth Ksh.400,000 and was caught by an
undercover Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) agent who pretended to be interested in
buying the ivory. It is alleged that the AP had acquire the ivory from a poacher
who he had arrested by him with the ivory but failed to present the ivory when
the poacher was charged. But the AP decided to sell the Ivory! Well think about
this if an AP can act like this to ivory worth Ksh.400,000, then you guess what
can happen when he arrest a drug trafficker loaded with illegal drugs worth
millions of shilling? Will he not “arrest and deport” the drug trafficker and
remain with the drugs to sell?
Fourthly, when we arrest and deport drug lords, they
defiantly have well established network already in Kenya and the moment you let
them go free in their country, they will still communicate with their fellow Kenyan
drug traffickers and the drug business will
continue to boom! Because drug traffickers do not work alone they work in a
chain consisting of producers, transporters, brokers and consumers and by arresting
and deporting the chain is not yet broken, by deporting its only the distance
between the chain that has changed.
Fifthly, one may ask: “when this drug lords are
deported are they charged in their home country?”...well, look at Antony Chinedu
when he was deported to Nigeria on suspicion of drug trafficking, was he
prosecuted in Nigeria? NO!! Is he free in Nigeria after he was deported? YES!!
Also, think of a country such as North Korea where bhang is legal, and a
foreigner from such a country is arrested and deported back to that country for
selling bhang which is illegal in Kenya, will he be charged for drug trafficking
yet in his country it is legal? I really doubt it.
My opinion is, Kenya has enough laws to prosecute
drug traffickers, since just recently two Ugandans were sentence to life
imprisonment when they were found with cocaine at Jomo Kenyatta Airport and if
by any chance they are not sufficient Kenya should make strict laws to control
drug trafficking, since when laws are so lenient they are always broken as it’s
easy to walk away and this can be learnt from the increase in poaching in Kenya
where elephants and rhinos are been killed almost daily, since there are no
strict laws to control such an illegal activity and poachers just pay fines and
walk away. And laws or policy should favour no one since it’s unjust to arrest
and deport a foreigne,r who will be free in his country and yet send a Kenyan to
rot in jail. And yet this foreigner is deported using taxpayers money to pay
his flight ticket.this foreigners should first serve their term in jail after
which they should be deported and Kenyans should be educated of the economic
and social dangers of illegal drugs.All in all the war against drug is war we
should all be part of.
