Shisha smokers in Nairobi have been put on notice after Governor Johnson Sakaja renewed enforcement of the product.
It has emerged that despite its ban in 2017, Shisha ( Hookah) products are being sold and utilised in entertainment joints within the county.
This has attracted the attention of the county boss who has now authorised a renewed enforcement of the ban.
In a letter dated January 13, 2023, the County Public Health Chief Officer Tom Michira Nyakaba, directed the Head of the Tobacco Control Unit to liaise with the relevant departments to ensure compliance as anticipated under the Public Health Act, Cap 242, and the relevant tobacco control laws.
“In lieu of the correspondence from Office of The Clerk, County Assembly Ref: NCCA/SC4ISC/CORR/2022/03 (copy attached) to the County Secretary, and onward transmission to this office, you are hereby instructed to take necessary enforcement action as anticipated under the Public Health Act, Cap 242 and the relevant tobacco control laws,” reads the letter.
In October 2022, Nairobi MCAs urged Sakaja to close premises with shisha smoking zones.
Led by the County Assembly Health Committee, the MCAs said shisha was still being sold in many nightclubs.
Shisha is a glass-bottomed water pipe in which fruit-flavoured tobacco is covered with foil and roasted with charcoal.
The tobacco smoke passes through a water chamber and is inhaled.
In December 2017, the then Health Minister Cleopa Mailu banned shisha smoking saying it had encouraged the peddling of hard drugs.
Kenya became the fourth country in East Africa to prohibit shisha, after Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
According to the World Health Organisation, the volume of smoke inhaled in an hour-long shisha session is estimated to be the equivalent of smoking between 100 and 200 cigarettes.
In 2021, the head of the tobacco control unit in Nairobi Anthony Muthemba said enforcement of the ban had been met with a lot of resistance and interference.
People gather for shisha smoking sessions at lounges, cafes, bars and some prefer to do it at home.
There is also e-Shisha, which is smoked below 45 degrees.
Shisha smoking has been linked to lung and oral cancers, heart disease and other serious illnesses.
It delivers about the same amount of nicotine as cigarette smoking does, possibly leading to tobacco dependence.
Shisha smoke poses dangers associated with secondhand smoke.
