Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen during a meeting in Kiambu on August 18,2025/XIn a decisive move to combat rising drug and alcohol abuse in institutions of higher learning, the government has directed that student leaders and university representatives will now participate in local security committee meetings.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen announced that university leadership will be included in sub-county security meetings moving forward.
The directive also extends to deans of students, clergy, and members of the business community.
“We want university and college leadership to be part and parcel of the enforcement teams,” Murkomen stated during the 29th Jukwaa la Usalama programme in Kiambu County.
“Our goal is to salvage young people who have been lured into this illicit trade and drug abuse.”
The CS revealed that the decision was prompted by alarming levels of substance abuse in universities and technical colleges, particularly in Kiambu and other parts of the Central region.
Murkomen lamented that drugs, especially cannabis, were being disguised as food and sold within campuses.
“Drugs, particularly cannabis sativa, have become a menace here. They are being baked into bread, mandazi, and kaa ngumu, then sold to students,” he said.
He also raised concerns over the role of alcohol manufacturers in producing and distributing adulterated liquor.
“Some major alcohol manufacturers are aiding in the production of illegal and unsafe brews,” he said.
“I must say that a lot of progress has been done, between last year and this year, a lot has been done but still a lot more needs to be done.”
Declaring war against adulterated alcohol, Murkomen warned that government officers abetting the vice will face disciplinary action.
He called upon the county governments to tighten the issuance of alcohol license to ensure young people are protected.
“In reality, we are intoxicating our young people by staging these wines and spirits close to homes, shops, schools and institutions like universities and colleges and it is becoming a menace," he said.
“One of the factors is conflict of interest; some of the people expected to license and enforce are actually the business people. So we have some of the government officials, both from county government and national government, particularly people who come from this area who are in that business.”
He said there are police officers, administrative officers who are also engaging themselves in this business, we also have influential persons who use their resources to compromise our officers who take bribes to facilitate the thriving of this business.
