The fight against Muguka, a popular stimulant leaf in the country is set to continue with Taita Taveta being the third county in Kenya to ban its sale and distribution.
Speaking on Sunday, the county’s Governor Andrew Mwadime stated that he had followed the lead of his fellow Governors in the Coast and banned the stimulant despite the resistance his colleagues had encountered from traders.
Mwadime cited that the county’s youth were hooked to the stimulant and as a result they were unproductive.
“A huge number of youth consuming Muguka in the county have turned to be unproductive and overdependent at an alarming rate”.
“In view of this and efforts to safeguard generations, I therefore, ban entry, transportation, distribution, sale and consumption of Muguka within the county”, stated Governor Mwadime .
In the past few days, Mombasa and Kilifi governors, Abdulswamad Sherrif and Gideon Mung’aro instituted the ban in their counties.
On Thursday, Nassir made the decree at Port Reitz Hospital, Mombasa, highlighting the pervasive consumption of the stimulant drug at the Coast, including among school-going children.
However, following the ban by the two counties, Embu County which is predominantly the largest supplier of Muguka has expressed displeasure over the moves and threatened to appeal the decisions.
An analysis done by Kenyans.co.ke reveals that this prohibition could have far-reaching economic and social consequences, potentially costing farmers up to Ksh1 billion per month and slashing over Ksh300 million from the revenue streams of both Mombasa and Embu counties.
The figure is derived from the daily delivery of 36,000 kilogrammes of Muguka to Mombasa, with prices ranging between Ksh500 to Ksh1,000 per kilogramme.
Meanwhile, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua has requested the government to urgently address the contradiction on the sale of Muguka and Miraa Regulations 2021 citing that Kenya’s regulations recognise Miraa and Muguka as legitimate crops.
To distinguish, between the two, miraa has a juicy succulent stem that is chewed while Muguka is a relatively short shrub with edible leaves with no stem.
Muguka is produced in Embu County while miraa is mostly grown in Meru County.
