Raila urges British Prime Minister David Cameron to review miraa ban
What you need to know:
- Mr Odinga wrote to British Prime Minister David Cameron last Friday
- The opposition leader wants the UK to extend the date when the ban becomes effective by at least a year.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has petitioned the British government to review the ban on miraa.
Mr Odinga wrote to British Prime Minister David Cameron last Friday asking him to extend the June 24 deadline when the ban of miraa in the United Kingdom takes effect.
The opposition leader wants the UK to extend the date the ban becomes effective by at least a year.
In a statement Tuesday, Mr Odinga said: “The extension will allow further consultations and durable solutions, although he feels the best outcome would be a revocation of the ban altogether.”
He added that the one year extension would also allow communities in Meru and Nyambene explore alternative markets since they have all along depended almost entirely on miraa, with the UK as the main market.
He said the ban will hit hard communities in Meru ‘at a time of great economic uncertainty in the whole country.’
Mr Odinga promised the UK government that should an extension be granted, he will personally initiate discussions with the Kenya Government and elected leaders from the region including Members of Parliament, Senators, Members of County Assemblies and Governors on what can be done to ensure the miraa business does not pose a security problem to Kenya and to the UK and that al Shabaab and other terror organisations do not benefit from it.
He said the extension will enable Kenya work out better regulations of the business, including registration of all those involved in the trade.
Mr Odinga’s petition comes days after President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to intervene over the miraa ban.
