The Eastern and Southern Africa Commission on Drugs (ESACD) has held its Fourth High-Level Consultation Meeting and launched a crucial report, aiming to tackle the growing problem of illegal drug trade and use across East and Southern Africa with new, more effective strategies.
The meeting highlighted a worrying increase in drug trafficking and use across the region, particularly in Kenya.
Presiding over the event, Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Interior and National Administration, Kipchumba Murkomen, stated that the drug problem is deeply linked with other serious crimes like human trafficking, funding for terrorism, corruption, and the spread of illegal weapons.
Murkomen emphasized that no single nation can fight this problem alone, making regional cooperation vital.
“Online platforms are increasingly used for drug sales, and synthetic drugs are now being made secretly within the region,” revealed the CS.
He called for a shift from harsh, punishment-focused policies to a more balanced approach that prioritizes health and human rights, ensuring treatment is available to everyone.
Concurrently, former South African President and ESACD Chairperson, Kgalema Motlanthe, commented on the severe lack of proper drug prevention and treatment services.
“Synthetic drugs, which are easy for criminal groups to make anywhere, pose the biggest new challenge,” he cautioned.
Motlanthe urged better training for law enforcement to identify these new drugs and stop the flow of chemicals used to make them.
The Chairperson also stressed the importance of governments, health services, and communities working together to prevent harm from drug use, including overdoses, and to share information.
He called for a review of policies that imprison people just for using drugs, advocating for their release.
In attendance was the former Chief Justice of Kenya and an ESACD Commissioner, Dr. Willy Mutunga, who echoed these concerns, stating that past strategies of arrests and imprisonment have failed, leading to more drug users than ever.
Dr. Mutunga argued that drug policies must be rewritten with human rights at their core, focusing on health needs rather than just punishment.
“Current drug laws often hurt young people, who already face high unemployment, by giving them criminal records for minor offenses,” he highlighted, stressing that civil society, including people who use drugs, must be part of creating and implementing new drug policies.
