Nyali MP Mohammed Ali has sponsored a bill that seeks to heighten the war on drug barons in the country.
The Bill will grant police officers more powers to track and access more information linked to drug trafficking.
The late Internal Security Minister, George Saitoti, first proposed this law in 2010 when he planned to list the names of alleged drug cartels in the National Assembly also seeks to nab drug dealers who cross borders to elude justice.
These provisions are found in the amendment of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2019, currently before the National Assembly.
Police will be allowed to intercept information meaning they can bug or install surveillance cameras in hotels, residences and other places they have reason to believe could be safe havens for drug lords.
“A police officer of or above the rank of a chief inspector of police may, for the purpose of obtaining evidence of commission of an offense under this Act, apply ex parte, to a chief magistrate or to the High Court for interception of communications order,” states the amendment considered by the National Administration and Security Committee last week.
If it happens that parliament passes this proposal, drug lords will hit a dead end with nowhere to run.
The bill also provides for mutual legal help between the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and regional agencies involved in the war against drug trafficking.
“Most of the people who consume the drugs are children of the poor, who are targeted by the drug lords. Those destroying our children are the rich who walk our streets taking advantage of ineffective laws,” MP Mohammed Ali coined.
The legislator appeared before the Administration and National Security Committee to explain the changes to his Bill.
Public hearings of the proposed law are currently ongoing and it is expected to be debated in parliament next week.
