The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) has raised an alarm over the rise in the number of underage children indulging in alcohol, drug, and substance abuse in Bangale Sub-County.
NACADA North-Eastern Coordinator Rev Wangai Gachoka speaking in Madogo during the installation ceremony of Bangale Sub-County DCC, singled out the Mororo area terming it a den of drug abuse.
He said drug peddlers in Mororo are well known and promised to hand over three names of the suspected dealers to Tana River County Commissioner Thomas Sankei.
“I will give you the three names. Those who sell bhang are known, one is just near the road, and two are a bit far. They are known by the village elders and chiefs, please intervene,’’ appealed Rev Gachoka.
Gachoka urged the security apparatus to apprehend drug sellers to end the Kayole gang. The juvenile gang operates in Mororo, terrorizing residents and passengers alighting from public vehicles under the influence of drugs.
He said, “These youths of Kayole gang won’t cease to terrorize residents. If they lack money to buy bhang they must steal. The solution is to arrest those who sell bhang for crime to decrease.
Rev Gachoka decried the number of young people drinking illicit brews and chewing Muguka which he says causes erectile dysfunction and users have anger problems which can lead a user to kill another when provoked.
He called on a multi-agency approach to eradicate drug and substance abuse in the budding Madogo town.
On his part, Tana River County Commissioner, Thomas Sankei, urged community elders to cooperate with government officers to end the brewing and consumption of illicit brews that have ruined many people’s lives and ruined the lives of many people in other counties.
“I thought there are no drugs in these areas. I am taken aback that they are illicit brews like chang’aa. Let me tell you don’t allow chang’aa in your vicinity; it has destroyed the lives of many youth and elders in other areas,’’ said the County Commissioner.
By Sadik Hassan
