A lobby group has welcomed the move by Nairobi MCAs to push for the enforcement of shisha ban.
The wards reps last week called on Governor Johnson Sakaja to close premises with shisha smoking zones.
They said shisha is still being sold in many night clubs despite a ban.
The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance says it is time for the MCAs to push for full implementation of Tobacco Control policies.
They said the ban was upheld by all courts of law when it was challenged.
On December 27, 2017, Kenya implemented a comprehensive ban on shisha, including the use, import, manufacture, sale, offer of sale, advertising, promotion, distribution and encouraging or facilitating its use.
Despite the ban, shisha is still widely sold in the country especially at nightclubs, and is popular among socialites and sportspersons.
“A few individuals running night clubs in Nairobi have routinely rubbished the 2017 ban,” KETCA chair Joel Gitali said.
“Studies of tobacco-based shisha show that the smoke contains carbon monoxide and other toxic agents known to increase the risks for smoking-related cancers, heart disease and lung disease.”
According to KETCA national coordinator Thomas Lindi, regular smoking of shisha may lead to cancer of the lungs, mouth, stomach and oesophagus.
“This is on top of health conditions like impaired pulmonary function, heart disease and reduced fertility,” Lindi said.
Kenya became the fourth country in East Africa to prohibit shisha after Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
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 deeply and slowly.
Experts warn that a single shisha session is the same as smoking hundreds of cigarettes.
According to the World Health Organization, the volume of smoke inhaled in an hour-long shisha session is estimated to be the equivalent of smoking between 100 and 200 cigarettes.
Head of tobacco control unit in Nairobi county Anthony Muthemba had in the past complained that enforcement of the ban has been met with a lot of resistance and interference from the political bigwigs.
“Shisha consumption has renormalised and the major challenge we are having is that the establishments that are selling shisha are using their political connections to interfere with enforcement,” Muthemba said.
When arrests are made during crackdowns, it takes just a few hours before the culprits are released.
International Institute for Legislative Affairs CEO Celine Awuor this year demanded that health stakeholders meet to re-evaluate and determine the effectiveness of the ban more than three years later.
