Kwale County Commissioner Stephen Orinde has declared an ‘all-out war’ on illicit drugs and illicit liquor in the coastal county.
CC Orinde says anti-narcotics operations would be intensified in the six sub counties of Kwale to ensure the region is cleansed of drugs and illegal brews.
Orinde spoke to the press at the Kwale Cultural Centre after chairing a security meeting attended by chiefs, assistant chiefs, assistant county commissioners, and deputy county commissioners and local police chiefs.
“As national government administrative officers, we are on high alert and the security agencies have been directed to ratchet up the fight against drug and substance abuse and illicit beer by the youth and some adults,” he said.
He vowed that police would go undercover to infiltrate drug networks to gather vital intelligence for sting operations and urged the public to report individuals who they suspect are involved in drug dealing saying the ‘more information we receive the more action we can take to disrupt and stop the supply of hard drugs’
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Government Spokesperson Mwanaisha Chidzuga and the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) Coast Regional Manager George Karissa.
According to NACADA, hundreds of youth were addicted to drugs in Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu counties and substance abuse continued to be a challenge for the security agencies.
The anti-drug agency says the alarming rate of hard drug use among the youth in the region has assumed a worrisome dimension despite persistent campaigns against the social vice.
Orinde who is also the Chairman of the County Security and Intelligence Committee (CSIC) called on area residents to take a stand against the menace of illicit drugs and toxic bootleg beer.
The County Administrator says that security personnel in the county have been directed to scale up the war against illicit drugs and bootleg liquor and warned that those found perpetuating the vice would be dealt with severely regardless of their station in life.
He vowed that the operation would not spare chiefs, security officers and civil servants who will be found complicit in illicit brews and the trafficking of hard drugs.
“We urge the youth to desist from drug and substance abuse and bootleg beer as it brings about personal tragedies and leads one to commit all manner of crimes,” he said adding that the government would be adopting a proactive measure in tackling the drug menace in the region.
Chidzuga expressed concern that the majority of the youth in the coastal region were dependent on hard drugs and imbibed bootleg beer, a scenario she said wasted their productive years instead of being meaningfully engaged in nation building endeavours.
Chidzuga called on the stakeholders to join hands in waging war against drug abuse and trafficking in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu which she said were in the grip of a drug abuse crisis.
She cautioned the youth against indulging in drug abuse, alcoholism and its related dangers so as to grow up as responsible citizens.
“We want all the stakeholders to commit to addressing the drug and illicit beer menace in the coastal region which could potentially derail the country’s socio-economic progress, she noted.
She said that the coastal counties risked losing a whole generation to drugs and substance and cautioned stakeholders from apportioning blame and focus on how to stem the drug problem that posed a threat to the economic and social stability of the country.
By Hussein Abdullahi
