Meru leaders want British troops out over ‘miraa’ ban

PHOTO | FILE The UK has moved to classify miraa as a drug and stop its importation into the country.

What you need to know:

  • Farmers say the UK needs to know that there are consequences to its decision to outlaw the stimulant

Players in the miraa industry have called a consultative meeting of stakeholders from the Embu, Meru and Somali communities on July 12 at Athiru Gaiti in Meru County.

The ban will be top the agenda, with a call for retaliatory action against the UK.

“Britain needs Kenya, and Kenya needs Britain,” said Mr Japhet Muroko, head of the Global Miraa Industry Dealers Network.

“The British need to know there can also be consequences for their actions. Their biggest training base outside the UK sits on thousands of acres of Ameru land. We are saying if they can make such a decision in defiance of the advice of their own scientists, then they have no business occupying the land of the Ameru.”

The UK’s Home Secretary Theresa May last week moved to classify miraa as a drug, effectively closing the door to the biggest remaining Western market for the stimulant. In January last year, the Netherlands also banned the import and sale of miraa.

Local traders now want the government to take retaliatory action against the British, something that could further sour relations between Nairobi and London.

Prince William

“Our demand is simple,” said Mr Muroki. “British and other foreign farmers occupy thousands of acres in Timau which were seized by the colonialists. The Lewa Downs, where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton, is part of the greater Ameru territory. What the UK has done is discriminatory and there must be action taken so that they can realise the seriousness of the matter.”

Much of the anger in the miraa-growing community stems from the fact that British scientists had advised against banning the commodity.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) found there is insufficient evidence to indicate that chewing miraa causes health problems to justify imposing a ban in Britain.

Prof Les Iversen, chairman of the ACMD, reacted to Ms May’s decision by saying: “The ACMD considers evidence of harm associated with the use of khat to be insufficient to justify its control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. While I am disappointed that the Home Secretary has not accepted the ACMD’s recommendation that khat should retain its legal status and not be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, I recognise that there are broader policy considerations the home secretary has to take into account and the decision whether to control a substance ultimately lies with the government.”

Although some in Kenya have interpreted the ban as being driven by the election of the Jubilee administration, which is seen as having been opposed by the UK government, the Conservative Party had, in fact, long ago promised to ban miraa once they returned to office.

In an article published in the Guardian on June 15, 2008, a Conservative leader, Baroness Warsi, promised that they would restrict sale of the product because of the alleged harm it was causing to some parts of the Somali community in the UK.

Hallucinations
“Like amphetamines, it causes dependency. It is addictive. It can trigger paranoia and hallucinations,” she wrote. “All communities need to be treated equally under the rule of law irrespective of their background and we must never fail to take action on issues like khat because the prevalence of the drug in the UK is relatively low, or because it is restricted to some minority communities.

“When any section of society is under threat, affected or underachieving, we must all stand up. That is why a future Conservative government would legislate to make khat a classified drug.”

But Meru County leaders are up in arms, arguing miraa is not as harmful as the British are claiming.

Meru Women Representatives Florence Kajuju on Thursday tabled a motion in the National Assembly calling for establishment of a select committee to recommend ways to recognise the product as a cash crop.

Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi has also demanded the government tell the Upper House what diplomatic action it was taking against the “discriminatory” action of the British Government.

Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi, Kubai Kiringo (Igembe Central) and Joseph M’Eruaki (Igembe North) say the ban has shocked their constituents.
“I am also a farmer with 11 acres. Our people feel under siege as miraa exports are their lifeline. Something must be done,” Mr Aburi said on Saturday.

Mr Kiringo captured the uncertainty in the region. “We are watching as the airlifting can stop anytime from now. People are shell-shocked about what will happen to them.”

A few days ago, Mr Aburi and Mr Kiringo made a tour of miraa drop-off points in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood where they met traders who were disgrunted at the manner in which the government was handling the matter.

They were particularly unhappy with efforts by the the National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse to classify miraa as a drug.

A somber mood struck Maua, Laare and Kangeta towns in Meru North that are the main centres of the trade. Under siege from local traders and farmers, Meru Governor Peter Munya has given the central government an ultimatum to send a delegation to the UK to negotiate, or he will travel himself.

He said Britain had not been sincere about the ban because its High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr Christian Turner had recently told local leaders in Meru that there were no plans to ban the crop.

“The crop is harvested, graded, packed and transported at all times of the day, and it is a source of employment for many people,” Mr Munya told Mr Turner.

He added, “We will be sending a delegation to seek an appointment with the UK and the European Union in a few days to convince the UK government that miraa is not a drug as it has been branded by some people.”

Nyambene Miraa Traders Association Chairman Edward Mutuura was similarly worried. “A flood of miraa in the local market will reduce prices because Britons constitute the bulk of consumers. The ripple effect will be that we will not be able to feed and educate our children.”

Mr Mutuura said the expected economic boom from the construction of Isiolo International Airport was now proving to be a mirage. “Reduced cost of transport (of miraa to the UK) would have translated into more profits. We are reading economic sabotage.”

Apart from health concerns, the UK is said to have linked consumption of the twigs to organised criminal activities in the country. That security angle has attracted headlines beyond Kenya although the UK panel found no evidence to show that miraa was helping to fund extremist groups such as Al Shabaab.

Kipkorir Menjo, director of the Kenya Farmers Association, told the Voice of America that the ban threatens the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people.

Industry collapse

“The miraa industry is going to face a serious challenge; from the farmers who plant the crop to fellows who have been distributing and exporting,” he said. “The whole industry is likely to collapse because this is a major market which has been earning these people good money and of course also earning the country foreign exchange.”

Mr Muroko urged the British Government to rethink its decision. “This has wide economic implications. It is not just about the farmers but also the transporters and exporters who are major taxpayers. When miraa chewers sit down, they consume coffee, soda and ground nuts.

“The miraa trade does not stand alone. For example, the farmers in Meru are among the biggest customers of Land Rover Kenya and other companies that the British have an interest in such as Guinness. Now, they are being subjected to economic extinction due to decisions such as this one. To the Meru, miraa is not a drug but a cultural, medicinal and recreational substance.”