The government has made tremendous strides in the fight against drug abuse, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said.
Gachagua said since the launch of the crackdown on drugs and illicit brews in central region, they have managed to reduce abuse of alcohol and substance noting that the operation is 70% complete.
The DP who was speaking in Isiolo County said they are going to extend the operation to Eastern Region especially in Isiolo and Marsabit counties that have high number of drugs users.
“The rate of drug abuse in Isiolo is a bit worrisome. There are a lot of drugs here especially within the town and they are now even extending to the rural areas.”
The most abused drugs in Isiolo are bhang and kete both which are smuggled into the country from Ethiopia through the Moyale border points.
Gachagua also put on notice administrators whose areas will be reported to be harboring peddlers of the said drugs. “Both drugs and chiefs cannot stay in the same location at a time. One has to give way and it is for the chiefs to decide because they are the ones with brains, drugs don’t have brains,” he warned.
Police station commanders who fail to act on reported cases involving drug peddlers will be interdicted and no transfers will be made for such officers, he said, adding that moving them to other stations would be tantamount to transferring a problem to other regions.
The Isiolo-Moyale highway has been used as a smuggling route for both drugs and aliens coming into the country, and the government has warned business will not be as usual. Gachagua says he will soon convene a meeting with all senior administrators in the region to chat the way forward.
