Bill proposes 50-year term for traffickers of banned drugs

Anyone found in possession of more than 100 grams of banned drugs will be jailed for 50 years or be made to pay a fine of more than Sh50 million if a law tabled in Parliament passes.

Owners or managers of business premises will be required to keep a register of tenants.

The Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control (Amendment) Bill 2020, proposes a fine of not less than Sh50 million or three times the market value of the substance – whichever is greater – and a 50-year jail term for those found with more than 100 grams.

Anyone found with one to 100 grams of such substances will be imprisoned for 30 years or be made to pay a Sh30 million fine or both.

Those jailed will not be allowed to hold a public office for 30 years, the bill says. 

A report of the National Assembly Administration and National Security Committee that scrutinised the bill before it is debated, proposes punitive penalties for traffickers.

“Landlords and owners of buildings must conduct due diligence on their tenants... to stop the setting up of clandestine laboratories,” the report of the committee chaired by Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange proposes.

Defeating justice

A person who provides false information will be guilty of an offence and will be liable to a fine of at least Sh1 million or a two-year imprisonment or both, it adds.

A clandestine lab, according to the report, means the purchase of chemicals, supplies and equipment for the illegal manufacture of controlled substances.

It includes distributing or arranging the transport of chemicals, supplies or equipment for the illegal manufacture of the substances.

Should the bill pass in its current form, the owner or manager of a premise who permits it to be used for the illegal business shall be guilty of an offence and will be liable to a fine of at least Sh20 million or a jail term of 20 years or both. 

Those found in possession of less than a gram could be made to pay a fine of not less than Sh5 million or to a jail term of not less than five years or both.

Bhang smokers will pay a fine of Sh250,000.

“There is a need to simplify the categories of grams. This will enable implementers to fully comprehend the law,” the report says.

Any person found with equipment used to produce narcotics will be fined not less than Sh20 million or be jailed for not less than 10 years or both.

While considering the bill, the committee received views from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the National Intelligence Service and the State Department for Interior.

The bill is sponsored by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) but is moved by the Kiambaa MP.

It also targets law enforcement officers who collude with traffickers to defeat justice.

Though the Kenyan law prohibits the use Ephedrine, ergometrine, ergotamine, Lysergic acid, phenyl-2 propanone, pseudoephedrine, acetic anhydride, acetone, anthranilic acid, ethyl ether, phenylacetic acid, tramadol, ketamine and piperidine, there is no effective mechanism to enforce it. 

Kenya has been identified as a major trafficking hub, mostly due to its porous borders, location, weak laws and corruption among law enforcers.

The current law imposes a fine of Sh1 million, a fine of three times the market value of the drug or whichever is greater. 

Nacada says the market value of the drugs informs the fines and jail terms on those found guilty.

“Penalties are lenient, allowing traffickers to pay fines and continue their illicit activities,” the agency says.

In just 12 years, some 2,480 appeals filed at the High Court by convicted people were successful.

“The law is not alive to the contemporary realities where traffickers use precursor chemicals to make narcotic,” Nacada says.