Nyeri County reps move to ban public smoking
A man smoking a cigarette. The Nyeri County Assembly passed a motion to curb smoking in public areas and restrict it to smoking zones. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Majority Leader Duncan Gituanja said the law will consequently help deter people from smoking.
Nyeri County Assembly Thursday passed a motion to curb smoking in public areas and restrict it to smoking zones in a bid to protect the non-smokers from inhaling cigarette smoke.
Nominated MCA Leah Macharia blamed what she termed as careless smoking in Nyeri town on a lack of legislation to regulate and confine smokers to designated zones.
As a result, Ms Macharia said, the town was heavily polluted by smokers who do not care about the health of others.
In the motion, the ward rep urged the County Government to identify and designate smoking zones to protect the public from exposure to toxic cigarette smoke.
Majority Leader Duncan Gituanja said the law will consequently help deter people from smoking.
“If we enforce this law, smokers will find it difficult to walk to the smoking zones, gradually going for longer hours without smoking,” he said.
The ward reps also criticized Nyeri's failure to enforce anti-smoking regulations already in place.
The MCAs also said they will set a good example by designating a smoking zone within the Assembly compound.
