By David Ochami & Philip Mwakio (The Standard, Kenya)

Kenya is fast becoming a key hub for trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan to the rest of the world.

According to reports by the United Nations, “30 to 35 metric tonnes” of Afghan heroin pass through East Africa each year.

This is two-thirds the volume going through West Africa. The largest ever drug haul in Kenya, in December 2004, was 1.1 metric tonnes with a street value of over Sh13 billion.

The proceeds from the drugs are used to finance terrorism activities in Northern Africa and some other sub-Saharan states. It is also suspected that the illicit drug trade supports the unending conflict in neighbouring Somalia.

The Taliban, among whom the world’s most notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden hides, are reported to earn $100 million (Sh8 billion) a year from protecting the drug trade. Drug barons are rumoured to sit in Afghan government positions raking in billions more. The UN puts the potential export value of Afghan narcotics at about $3.4 billion (Sh270 billion) a year. So much is grown that destroying it all is impossible: With stockpiles of 10,000 metric tonnes awaiting export, the UN this year proposed creating a “flood of drugs” in the country to destroy the value of opium.

Experts say the availability of drugs in Kenyan cities is fueling addiction and spread of HIV and Aids in towns like Mombasa and Nairobi.

The UN says that countries in East and West Africa, including Kenya, are no longer only consumers of drugs but are turning into processing hubs for hard drugs. Some states are “threatened” by the increasing clout of drug cartels.

Last evening, Judith Odhiambo who heads the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the Kenya Police acknowledged a surge in seizures of drug hauls but it was not clear whether that is a result of better law enforcement or an increase in trafficking through Kenya.

“Seizures are rising now,” she said in a brief interview. She did not, however, have definite figures of trends and added she needs to read the UN report first.

The UN says heroin is replacing cocaine whose supply has been going down. Last year 80 per cent of the world’s opium (used to make heroin) came from Afghanistan. Production is up over 239 per cent since 2003, according to US government estimates. Most states preferred by traffickers lack money to implement anti-narcotics strategies.

On November 24, a ministerial declaration supporting UN efforts against drugs and organised crime was signed in Kenya. Dated December 8, the report quotes Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director on the UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) as saying: “Drugs are enriching not only organized crime but also terrorists and other anti-Government forces,”

He describes the situation as a worrisome development.

“In East Africa…30 to 35 tonnes of Afghan heroin [are] trafficked each year causing a dramatic increase in heroin addiction and spreading of HIV and Aids in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa.”

The official said the rise is also connected to state failure in Somalia.

“Mainly because of the drastic situation in Somalia, he said, East Africa was becoming a free economic zone for all sorts of trafficking — drugs, migrants, guns, hazardous wastes and natural resources.”

West Africa has traditionally been associated with the international drug trade but Kenya now leads states in East Africa that have emerged as favourites for drug traffickers.

A UN Security Council meeting on global cooperation in fighting international drug trafficking was told that narcotic laboratories are increasingly finding homes in Africa.

The UN bulletin, which reported on the meeting, says that such laboratories have already been found in countries such as Guinea-Bissau. The country’s Cabinet is so compromised, it is referred to as the world’s first “narco-state.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told the meeting that international drug trade is fuelling brutal conflicts, corruption and other crimes besides undermining the rule of law.

The UN chief said in some poor nations proceeds of drug trade distort Gross Domestic Product and disclosed that global co-operation to fight the narcotics menace lags behind cooperation between or among criminal groups.

The CEO of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) Jennifer Kimani says there is a rising consumption of heroin in Kenya owing to its availability and affordability on the market.

“There is a rise in demand for heroin because it is cheap and available,” she says and adds supply and abuse of the drug has risen lately beyond the traditional Coast province to Kenya’s hinterland.

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya According to the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) lack of goodwill from the government was derailing efforts to contain the menace.

“A good example is the Kenyan Coast which has seen the number of youths hooked to illegal drugs on the increase. It is religious leaders and to some extent provincial administration officials who are trying to eradicate drug use here,” Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa, CIPK organising secretary said.

He added that certain individuals known to be involved in drug trade are in good books with senior Government officials who act to protect them arrest.

But Sheikh Juma Ngao, a Nacada director, points an accusing finger at western nations which have reneged on their role to help stop supply of drugs to developing countries.

“There is need to have stiffer international laws in place that could deter transfer and or transportation of drugs to countries like Kenya in the first place,” Sheikh Ngao said.

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

————————————————————————————————————————————————-