Kenyan leaders and farmers challenge miraa ban in UK

Kenyan miraa farmers and leaders have teamed up with a UK businessman to challenge Britain’s decision to ban the crop.

Mr Mahamud Ahmed Mohammed, a miraa importer in the UK, has filed a petition at the High Court in London arguing that Secretary of State for Home Department Theresa May failed to take into account any scientific evidence before classifying miraa a drug and banning its importation in the UK.

Mr Mohammed argues that the decision will have the effect of prohibiting his use of miraa and prevent his expression of the social, and cultural customs associated with it within his ethnic group.

“In reaching the decision, the ministry failed to consult with foreign governments having a justifiable interest in the making of the decision to control khat and failed to consider the adverse effects the decision would cause on the economies of such foreign countries,” said Mr Mohammed.

He argued that there is no evidence within the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to warrant classifying miraa as a dangerous substance and that the ministry’s statement on the ban was a significant misinterpretation.

The decision, which was announced through a ministerial statement on July 3, was reached after ACMD said it undertook a thorough and comprehensive review on the medical and social harms of miraa consumption.

According to the ACDM report, failure to take a decisive action and change the UK’s legislative position on miraa would place the country at a serious risk of becoming a single regional hub for the illegal onward trafficking of the substance to G8 countries.

Mr Mohammed, however, argued that the decision was incompatible with the convention of human rights, especially on his community which had been using miraa as a long standing social, cultural and ethnic tradition throughout the UK.

He said the decision denied him the right to participate and express his historical and cultural activity and against provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Yesterday, Senator Kiraitu Murungi, one of the key witnesses in the case, confirmed that the Meru county government was part of the suit and that Governor Peter Munya had contributed Sh2 million to support it.

Deputy President William Ruto, he said, had pledged to contribute Sh5 million on behalf of the central government to the case estimated to cost Sh20 million.