On 14th – 16th May 2018, the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) together with the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program hosted a knowledge sharing forum for NACADA staff and members of the National Technical Committee on Drug Abuse (NTC). The NTC consists of officers from different government agencies namely: NACADA, Police (Anti-Narcotics), Prisons, The Kenya Ports Authority, The Kenya Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Health.
The aim of the meeting was to situate the drug policy discourse in Kenya with a framework of fundamental human rights and to assess the extent to which our current national laws and policies meet these.
During the meeting, KELIN provided an overview of the legal and policy environment currently in place in Kenya and the discrepancy between the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health acknowledges drug addiction as a disease and has put measures in place to protect drug users from the harmful effects of drugs. On the other hand the Ministry of Interior criminalises the measures put in place by the Ministry of Health thus exposing persons who use drugs to HIV, hepatitis and ——–other blood-borne diseases.
The forum was further enriched by shared experiences of drug policy reform protagonists from Ghana and Latin America. They highlighted key messages that made their drug policy review interventions successful.
At the end of the forum stakeholders came up with three key action points to carry forward as the drug policy discourse continues:
- Recognition that drug addiction is a public health issue;
- Recognition that the current drug policy regime is disadvantageous to women and thus there is need for reform;
- The need to develop a threshold to distinguish quantity of drugs for personal use and quantities that would constitute drug trafficking.
KELIN will continue to work closely with OSIEA to push for the development of a rights based drug policy, as the drug policy reform discourse in Kenya continues.
To contribute to the discussions on this forum, follow KELIN on our social media platforms: Twitter: @KELINkenya using these hash tags: #justice2health; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kelinkenya
For more information, contact:
Ted Wandera
Programme Officer
Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS (KELIN)
4th Floor, Somak Building, Mombasa Road
Tel +254202515790; Cell +254788220300
Email: twandera@kelinkenya.org
