- The MPs said there was need to amend the law to categorise the two cash crops as drugs.
- The Mombasa County lawmakers said their demand has nothing to do with politics but the well-being of Kenyans.
Image: HANDOUT
Lawmakers from the Coastal region have called for a total ban of miraa and muguka, setting the stage for a clash with their Meru counterparts.
The six legislators from Mombasa County claimed that the two stimulant cash crops are drugs and therefore ruin the lives of Kenyans.
Addressing the media at Parliament Buildings on Tuesday, the MPs said there was need to amend the law to categorise the two cash crops as drugs.
“Miraa is a cash crop but we all know it is a drug. If we want to deal with drug addiction in this country then we must deal with this matter,” Chaangamwe MP Omar Mwinyi said.
Present during the press conference were Mishi Mboko (Likoni), Mohammed Zamzam (Mombasa Woman Rep), Badi Twalib (Jomvu), Machele Mohamed Soud (Mvita) and Mohamed Faki (Mombasa Senator).
The remarks by the lawmakers come amid push by Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir to ban miraa and muguka businesses near schools.
Miraa is seen to play a pivotal role in Kenya's foreign exchange earnings, having contributed over Sh50 billion since the resumption of exports to Somalia in July 2022, records show.
Kenya resumed exports to Mogadishu last year but traders are only allowed to export a limited tonne each day unlike previously.
Despite efforts by elected leaders from Meru to broker a resolution, their interventions have not yielded tangible results.
Kenya was left to solely rely on Somalia market after the UK, which was one of the largest buyers of the commodity banned the export of the commodity over a decade ago.
Miraa traders were hit in 2020 when Somalia, Kenya’s key market for the stimulant imposed a ban on the exports.
Igembe South MP John Paul Mwirigi has in the past raised concerns that a cartel wants to control miraa export, including fixing prices.
On the other hand, Meru senator who doubles up as Senate Deputy Speaker Kathuri Murungi, has said that the region fully depends on miraa and the government should in turn help them find new markets.
On Tuesday, the Mombasa County lawmakers said their demand has nothing to do with politics but the well-being of Kenyans.
Mboko claimed that the effects of the two crops are bad as it pushes youth to join criminal gangs.
“We have seen gangs emerging because of muguka and miraa. We are pleading with the Deputy President to deal with the crop the same way he is dealing with alcohol,” she said.
Zamzam called for the total ban of the two commodities on grounds that they have broken families and rendered young people jobless.
She told off governors who have been pleading with Mombasa governor to lower taxes on the two commodities.