Religious leaders in Kilifi County on Wednesday urged the National Government to allocate funds to add value to cash crops in the Coast region just as he promised to do with miraa and muguka early this week.
Led by the chairman of the Kilifi County Council of Bishops Bishop Amos Lewa, the Christian and Muslim clerics also called on the government to avail funds to rehabilitate thousands of addicts of muguka and other drugs in the region.
They lauded President William Ruto for taking pro-active steps to resolve the muguka debate sparked by a ban on the transportation, sale and use of the stimulant by the County Governments of Mombasa, Kilifi and Taita Taveta.
Speaking in Kilifi County during a press conference, the clergymen said many youths in the region had become zombies and called on the government to establish rehabilitation centres to rehabilitate the addicts and make them lead productive lives.
They were reacting to sentiments made by President Ruto to the effect that muguka was not an illegal drug and promising to provide Sh500 million for miraa and muguka value addition.
They reiterated their support on the ban of muguka by Governors Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir (Mombasa), Gideon Mung’aro (Kilifi) and Andrew Mwadime (Taita Taveta) and urged the growers and traders to sell the stimulants to other regions.
Bishop Lewa described President Ruto as a visionary leader who loves the development of this country, adding that the religious leaders were not against what he did for the people of Meru and Embu counties, giving them money to add value to their crops – miraa and muguka.
“However, just as he did to them, let him remember that we also have cash crops such as cashew nuts, coconuts, mangoes and pineapples which need value addition. We urge him to consider availing funds for us to be able to grow them well,” he said.
Bishop Thomas Kakala, of the JCC Ministries and patron of the Malindi Pastors’ fellowship, asked the government to conduct research on muguka to establish if it has any medicinal value.
“Why not conduct research on muguka to establish whether it is a drug that is being abused so that a factory can be established to produce medicine that can be used by all?” the outspoken cleric wondered.
He said the war on muguka was an addition to the unrelenting war on hard drugs and alcohol, whose champion is Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has been at the forefront of fighting against illicit liquor.
“We have no grudge with the people of Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu but we have evidence that many of our youths have become impotent due to the use of muguka; We do not want muguka; simple,” he said.
Bishop James Chigodi of the New Life Ministries said the region needed money for the construction of factories for cashew nuts, coconuts, mangoes and pineapples to lift the economies of the coastal counties.
“We urge the President to look into this matter with a fair balance. If the muguka growers are given money for their crop, let them sell their product elsewhere, because we do not want it here,” he said.
Similar sentiments were made by Muslim leaders Sheikh Famau Mohamed Famau, an anti-drug crusader in Kilifi County, Badi Islam of the Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council and Badi Isla, who said many youngsters had been affected by narcotic drugs and need to be assisted to come out of addiction.
“We urge the President to build a modern rehabilitation centre in the Coast region that will help the youth to have jobs and stop being enslaved by drugs,” said Famau.
Malindi Anglican Bishop Reuben Katite said the ban on muguka had started yielding fruit in Kilifi County as the groups of youths who have been idling about chewing the stimulant had decreased.
By Emmanuel Masha
