Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revealed that some politicians and businessmen are behind the drug trade at the coast.
Speaking during fundraising in Malindi on Thursday, April 4, the DP noted that the drug barons had become filthy rich in the process.
According to Gachagua, the illicit trade was earning the barons billions of shillings at the expense of the youth who were most affected by drug addiction.
He noted that the government was keen on addressing the menace adding that the politicians and businessmen will also be held to account.
Gachagua asserted that the government had intensified operations against those in the drug business, maintaining that time would catch up with those at the coast.
"I want to tell the barons who are filthy rich, some of whom are politicians and businessmen and have made billions of shillings from selling drugs, that God will punish them.
"They are making money while they kill our children. We shall deal with you. You can run but they will not hide," the DP stated.
He also called on the residents and religious groups to join in the government operation that is being spearheaded by various security agencies.
In the same breath, he acknowledged that leaders from the region needed to speak up and help in dealing with the menace which has caused the deaths of thousands of people.
However, he did not give the specific names of the politicians and businessmen he was referring to.
The government launched a nationwide operation against alcohol and drug abuse in the country on March 6. During the meeting that was spearheaded by Gachagua and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithiure Kindiki, it was noted that the drug dealers would be treated as terrorists.
"The menace of illicit liquor, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is a National Security challenge and poses a threat to the survival of our Country's future.
"The Government considers manufacturers, transporters, distributors and sellers of illicit alcohol and narcotic drugs as enemies of Kenya and participants in organised crime who should be placed in the same category as terrorists, bandits and other perpetrators of complex criminal activities," he stated then.
