Today, the President, William Ruto, chaired a very high-level, multi-agency yearly conference held at the State House in Nairobi. The objective of the conference is to strengthen Kenya's stimulus over alcohol and drug abuse, which the government places as a major national development and security concern.
With heart and soul, the strategic meeting aimed at implementing the presidential proclamation on alcohol and drug control and took on the course of markers that the President had laid during his New Year address of 2026. This was in reference to his prayer for haste in the quick-and-swift legal, institutional, and operational reforms against substance abuse across the nation, with a strong focus on prevention, enforcement, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Government actors agreed to finalize the necessary legal and policy framework within the next 10 days such that coordination among institutions is readily practicable, with a broad range of enforcement mechanisms to scale up and great accountability in handling all alcohol and drug-related challenges.
President William Ruto. Photo/Courtesy
President Ruto decried substance abuse for denying public health, also accounting for encroachments on national security, crime, and social disintegration, particularly of the youths. Problems of this kind should be considered as transversal, requiring an all-government approach and one that involves every national or county government, security agencies, health institutions, and regulatory bodies.
Also in attendance were Kipchumba Murkomen-Minister of Interior, PS Raymond Omollo, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja, and Deputy Inspectors-General Eliud Lang'at and Gilbert Masengeli. On behalf of their institutions, Mohammed Amin, LJDCI, was in company with those present from the NACADA and KEBS-Managed by Director M.D. Esther Ngari.
On the matter of Narcotics, the Inspector-General Douglas Kanja briefed the gathering that police officers who are to work in the Anti-Narcotics Unit have already been selected. He confirmed that vehicles, equipment, and other resources have been taken over in order to raise the operational capabilities of the unit in the war against drug trafficking and its syndicates.
The president has mandated the establishment of drug-rehabilitation centres in each of the 47 counties so that such centers supported by NACADA, county governments, and national referral hospitals can be created for the benefit of all communities which require treatment services.
Possibly, Social Health Authority (SHA) will, meanwhile, be evaluating the services available in this country to provide a state of care for abused persons. This effort includes access to care through funding, enhancing the actors that refer, and assisting in actual long-term recuperation initiatives.
Social Health Authority. Photo/Courtesy
On the question of securing the border, the President issued orders for the establishment of a multi-agency team at five key border points in Kenya to contain drug trafficking and organized crime. The teams are to be concentrated on surveillance, intelligence sharing, and coordinated enforcement which disrupts illicit supply chains.
President Ruto reinstated the government's resolve to galvanize the fight against alcohol and drug abuse while stating that the program's approach should maintain a balance between punishment and prevention, cure, and re-education. He recommended that actions consistent with this approach are crucial to both securing the common welfare and well-being of the nation.
