Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir on Sunday explained why he has not battled hard drugs and concentrated on lowering the intake of Muguka.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
While appearing onCitizen TVprime time, the county boss noted that he did not have the authority to tackle imported narcotics, whether by sea or by air.
Instead, he noted that he harboured the power to tackle the use of substances already declared legal by protecting addicts.
“For starters, I have no authority and permission to inspect those that are able to come in from foreign countries whether by air or by sea,” Nassir stated.
“I do not have the power to able to control the anti-narcotics unit but I do have the power for something that has been declared legal for this country.”
The Governor further noted that he and other governors of Kilifi and Taita Taveta counties are yet to meet President William Ruto to iron out the ban.
He noted that since announcing the ban slightly over a week ago, he has been hit by several lawsuits, more at the same time than he has ever experienced before.
“The President did call and we are waiting for the President to be able to call us in. Our stand remains that if we are going to be asked to sit down with Linturi (Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi), he is already biased naturally through his sentiments from when he was a member of Parliament,” he added.
“In our stand, this is not an Agricultural issue. This is a security matter, health matter and economic matter. For the first time in my life, I have been taken to court by three different parties on this matter.”
He further noted that all other rulings on Muguka backed him save for a court in Embu that declared the ban illegal.
Nassir noted that the county will stay with the current rates when asked whether he will follow Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani’s footsteps in increasing charges to lower Muguka consumption.
He noted that Mombasa charges Ksh6,000 per bag of Muguka translating to Ksh1.8 million per lorry.
“On our part, in our Finance Act, it is a Ksh6,000 fee per bag of Muguka and there was going to be another charge but we prefer that we are going to stick at Ksh6,000 until this matter is going to be determined,” he clarified
“If you calculate, the amount per truck and I assume a truck carries about 300 bags. Kindly deposit Ksh1.8 million shillings. By the way, I will be better off without that Ksh1.8 million anytime.”
Nassir banned the sale, distribution, and consumption of Muguka noting that it was wasting away the lives of Mombasa youth….CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
