The National Government is partnering with County governments in putting up several Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres in all the 47 counties offering affordable, publicly funded services to members of the public receiving treatment and rehabilitation from drugs.
Speaking during an inspection tour at the Miritini Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre to assess the progress of the construction, Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said that the government is upfront to combat the war on illicit alcohol, narcotic drugs, and psychotropic substances which entails the complete suppression of both the supply and demand.
He inspected the Miritini Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre and picked the immediate and short-term needs to expedite its completion.
The Miritini facility will cost Sh1.3 billion on completion, out of which Sh166 Million has been disbursed.
While assessing the progress made, he said the 13 acres of land set aside was to put up a state of the art, centre of excellence for the treatment and rehabilitation of those addicted to alcohol, drugs and psychotropic substances.
He noted that plans are underway to expand the accommodation from 50 patients to more since the facility treats at least 300 patients daily.
“We are going to set up dormitories, training centres and staff houses for our doctors to stay here,” he added.
Prof Kindiki said that there are three components of the programme, first one is treatment of the addicts, then rehabilitation and reintegration which requires the government to put up a training facility where once the patients are fully treated, they will enroll in courses to give them technical and vocational skills.
“We are working with the National Industrial and Training Authority which will certify our training centre here so that we have a comprehensive reintegration programme, we are also thinking as a ministry that those patients who are fully treated and have the proper skills, we are going to establish a small fund so that we give them a startup capital to go back home and start being productive again and become useful members of our society,” he added.
The CS said to suppress demand, treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration of addicts remains a key objective of the government.
He noted that drug addiction is a serious threat to the nationhood as it is wasting away many productive men and women who are unable to engage in their socio-economic activities and instead wasting time taking drugs and destroying their health.
“What we have done across the country is to classify the problem of manufacture, sell, use and consumption of narcotic drugs and illicit alcohol as national threat and we will engage all machinery of the nation to combat these vices and redeem our generation. We are treating this with seriousness it deserves,” he said.
It will have treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes including training the recovered patients with technical skills like masonry, tailoring and engineering crafts and providing start-up capital for small businesses in line with their skills.
The CS said the Miritini Centre will be a Centre of Excellence for benchmarking among the County Governments and the African Countries.
“The Centre is already operational and is treating 50 inpatients and 300 outpatients free of charge, but when complete, the capacity will rise fivefold,” he said.
He issued a stern warning to drug peddlers in the country saying the government considers the effects they cause to the society far much than those caused by terrorists vowing to handle them thoroughly.
He called on politicians in the country to stop politicising the ongoing government efforts aimed at curbing the use of illicit alcohol, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in the country, saying it’s a law enforcement matter and not a political issue.
In terms of security, the CS said there is a direct linkage in the use of drugs, alcoholism and the spike in criminal incidents.
Kindiki disclosed plans to bolster the capacity of the Kenya Coast Guard and Kenya Navy so as to effectively patrol the country’s territorial waters in a bid to intercept the small boats that are offloading drugs from the ships at high seas to be sold to people.
“Most of the hard drug such as cocaine and heroin enter the country through the sea. The Kenya Coast Guard and Kenya Navy can survey the Kenya territorial waters and intercept the alliance between the big ships in the high sea and the small boats used by drug peddlers to offload drugs from the ships and sell them,” he said.
He disclosed that they have so far shut down at least 20,000 alcohol outlets which are operating without licenses and 14 distilleries operating illegally and manufacturing poisonous drinks across the country.
The CS vowed not to relent on the war on illicit alcohol, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances till the country is free from the menace.
The Chairman of NACADA Reverend Stephen Mairori, the CEO Dr Anthony Omerikwa and the staff, as well as the Mombasa County Security and Intelligence Heads were present.
By Chari Suche
