The high court in Nairobi has suspended the new law after an application by 2 firms Mastermind Tobacco and multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya Limited until the matter is heard and determined, in a suit in which the attorney general and the public health ministry are named as defendants.
Source:Maina Waruru in Nairobi for Africanews
Kenyan firms challenge new smoking laws - Africanews
August 1, 2008
Maina Waruru
Hardly a month after the Kenya parliament passed a law seeking to seriously curtail use of tobacco in the country, tobacco firms have gone to court and effectively frustrated enactment of the new rules. These firms have argued that the law had 'criminalised smoking', making it hard for them to operate.
The firms wanted the enactment of the laws put on hold, saying that the provisions of the rules were unrealistic and denied them their constitutional right to make a living.
As as result the high court in Nairobi has suspended the law after an application by 2 firms mastermind Tobacco and multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya Limited until the matter is heard and determined, in a suit in which the attorney general and the public health ministry are named as defendants.
The law which was was to come into force in mid July sought among other things criminalise sale of single sticks of cigarettes and allow sale only in 20 stick packets, ban smoking in all public places including bars, restaurants, homes bus stops offices and even streets.
The law demanded that cigarettes makers display in bold writing words to the effect that smoking was harmful to health as opposed to the past when the warning was printed in small hardly noticeable print.
It also sought to ban sale of cigarettes to persons under age 18, advertising of tobacco products and sponsorship of any activities by tobacco companies .
Harsh penalties were spelt out for offenders including a jail term of 6 months for anyone smoking in public or selling single sticks.
But the law will now remain suspended after the court action and going by past experience in Kenyan courts the suit may drag on for years before it is determined ,after all that is what the complainants want – buy a little more time and in the meantime make money .
For it is business as usual with people smoking freely everywhere apart from cities like Nairobi which have used their powers to pass by-laws that ban public smoking restricting to designated areas or the so called “smoking zones”.
The frustration by the government is palpable for this is not the first time attempts to control use of tobacco is being resisted by the companies concerned.
When 2 years ago a similar attempt was made by public health ministry the firms moved to court and effectively scuttled any attempts at curbing use of tobacco.
Even more scandalously when the current law was first mooted in parliament 4 years ago, backbenchers were were treated to a 4 day retreat in the resort city of Mombasa by the 2 firms, where virtues of the industry to the economy were extolled to a gullible legislature.
Add the retreat to a per diem allowance and the bill stalled mid water until early this year , when it was brought back for debate.
The Mps were loudly condemned for such a display of greed and naivety while their voters died from a myriad of complications associated with smoking.
It is not that the country has been spared the burden of treating ailments linked to smoking passive of active, health officials say that Kenya spends no less than Ksh 5 billion annually managing tobacco related complications.
“ The country spends five times the revenue it gets from growing tobacco treating patients of the malaise making it totally impossible to make a case of any advantage we are getting from the whole industry” said Dr James Nyikal , public health permanent secretary.
“ Annually the public health system treats some 12,000 patients from tobacco illnesses out of which 4,000 are non smokers thus the need to tighten rules to protect no smokers” he added.
Statistics show that some 5 million Kenyans aged 18-53 smoke with more youths including girls getting sucked into the habit every year.
Cigarettes makers have put up a case for their trade saying that the industry besides directly employing more than 5,000 people as well sustains some 100,000 tobacco farmers in semi arid and low rainfall ares of Kenya.
But this is dismissed by both health and agriculture experts who see no benefit in the whole industry. Agriculture experts say that land put under tobacco cultivation would be better used for food cultivation, while economists say that tobacco growing areas of Kenya exhibit some of the worst incidences of poverty in Kenya.
“ What farmers in these areas should be encouraged to do is grow more food than tobacco to help Kenya attain self sufficiency in food production, it is sad that the nearly arid lands are put under crops that don't help food security for the family” said Daniel Wareri, a food security expert.
Wareri says that outside high poverty levels in these areas tobacco growing poisoned soils making cultivation of maize for example impossible in fields previously planted with tobacco.
“The soils take years to recover and support other crops thus accelerating food insecurity which translates in high poverty levels” he adds.
The action by the industry players here come at a time when Bill Gates the Microsoft owner billionaire has pledged a whooping $375 to help poor countries fight smoking and tobacco use in their countries .
Even though many African countries have come with measures to curtail use of tobacco, enforcement according to World Health Organisation (WHO) has been poor and multinationals escaping strict laws in developed countries have been moving their operations to the continent to take advantage of weak and hardly enforced laws.
Source: Africanews
August 1, 2008
Maina Waruru
Hardly a month after the Kenya parliament passed a law seeking to seriously curtail use of tobacco in the country, tobacco firms have gone to court and effectively frustrated enactment of the new rules. These firms have argued that the law had 'criminalised smoking', making it hard for them to operate.
The firms wanted the enactment of the laws put on hold, saying that the provisions of the rules were unrealistic and denied them their constitutional right to make a living.
As as result the high court in Nairobi has suspended the law after an application by 2 firms mastermind Tobacco and multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya Limited until the matter is heard and determined, in a suit in which the attorney general and the public health ministry are named as defendants.
The law which was was to come into force in mid July sought among other things criminalise sale of single sticks of cigarettes and allow sale only in 20 stick packets, ban smoking in all public places including bars, restaurants, homes bus stops offices and even streets.
The law demanded that cigarettes makers display in bold writing words to the effect that smoking was harmful to health as opposed to the past when the warning was printed in small hardly noticeable print.
It also sought to ban sale of cigarettes to persons under age 18, advertising of tobacco products and sponsorship of any activities by tobacco companies .
Harsh penalties were spelt out for offenders including a jail term of 6 months for anyone smoking in public or selling single sticks.
But the law will now remain suspended after the court action and going by past experience in Kenyan courts the suit may drag on for years before it is determined ,after all that is what the complainants want – buy a little more time and in the meantime make money .
For it is business as usual with people smoking freely everywhere apart from cities like Nairobi which have used their powers to pass by-laws that ban public smoking restricting to designated areas or the so called “smoking zones”.
The frustration by the government is palpable for this is not the first time attempts to control use of tobacco is being resisted by the companies concerned.
When 2 years ago a similar attempt was made by public health ministry the firms moved to court and effectively scuttled any attempts at curbing use of tobacco.
Even more scandalously when the current law was first mooted in parliament 4 years ago, backbenchers were were treated to a 4 day retreat in the resort city of Mombasa by the 2 firms, where virtues of the industry to the economy were extolled to a gullible legislature.
Add the retreat to a per diem allowance and the bill stalled mid water until early this year , when it was brought back for debate.
The Mps were loudly condemned for such a display of greed and naivety while their voters died from a myriad of complications associated with smoking.
It is not that the country has been spared the burden of treating ailments linked to smoking passive of active, health officials say that Kenya spends no less than Ksh 5 billion annually managing tobacco related complications.
“ The country spends five times the revenue it gets from growing tobacco treating patients of the malaise making it totally impossible to make a case of any advantage we are getting from the whole industry” said Dr James Nyikal , public health permanent secretary.
“ Annually the public health system treats some 12,000 patients from tobacco illnesses out of which 4,000 are non smokers thus the need to tighten rules to protect no smokers” he added.
Statistics show that some 5 million Kenyans aged 18-53 smoke with more youths including girls getting sucked into the habit every year.
Cigarettes makers have put up a case for their trade saying that the industry besides directly employing more than 5,000 people as well sustains some 100,000 tobacco farmers in semi arid and low rainfall ares of Kenya.
But this is dismissed by both health and agriculture experts who see no benefit in the whole industry. Agriculture experts say that land put under tobacco cultivation would be better used for food cultivation, while economists say that tobacco growing areas of Kenya exhibit some of the worst incidences of poverty in Kenya.
“ What farmers in these areas should be encouraged to do is grow more food than tobacco to help Kenya attain self sufficiency in food production, it is sad that the nearly arid lands are put under crops that don't help food security for the family” said Daniel Wareri, a food security expert.
Wareri says that outside high poverty levels in these areas tobacco growing poisoned soils making cultivation of maize for example impossible in fields previously planted with tobacco.
“The soils take years to recover and support other crops thus accelerating food insecurity which translates in high poverty levels” he adds.
The action by the industry players here come at a time when Bill Gates the Microsoft owner billionaire has pledged a whooping $375 to help poor countries fight smoking and tobacco use in their countries .
Even though many African countries have come with measures to curtail use of tobacco, enforcement according to World Health Organisation (WHO) has been poor and multinationals escaping strict laws in developed countries have been moving their operations to the continent to take advantage of weak and hardly enforced laws.
Source: Africanews
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