Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Sheriff Nassir has declined to soften his stance on sale and trade of miraa and muguka in the coastal county.
Speaking after meeting Meru leaders who had visited him at him at his office over the issue, the governor refused to budge and instead upped the ante.
He vowed to continue with a crackdown on shops selling miraa and muguka within 100 meters of schools in line with the regulations of the Crops Act 2013.
Abdullswamad also declined to back down on recent move to increase cess fees levied on miraa/muguka to a record Sh80,000 per lorry per day in a bid to deter the sale of the stimulants by making them expensive.
The levy has caused uproar among Embu and Meru miraa/muguka farmers.
“We will also clamp down on PSV operators chewing miraa/muguka while driving, “ the governor said at a press conference at his Elimu na Mazingira office in Treasury Square.
Meru Leaders led by Deputy Speaker Kathuri Murungi were in Mombasa just days after a delegation led by Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire also visited to urge Abdullswamad to soften his position on the cash crops.
The governor pledged to work with the County Assembly to pass local legislation to regulate the trade of miraa/muguka designating places areas.
On May 14, 2024, lawmakers from the Coastal region called for a total ban of miraa and muguka.
The six legislators from Mombasa County claimed that the two stimulant cash crops are drugs and therefore ruin the lives of Kenyans.
The MPs said there was need to amend the law to categorise the two cash crops as drugs.
“Miraa is a cash crop but we all know it is a drug. If we want to deal with drug addiction in this country then we must deal with this matter,” Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi said.
Present during the press conference were Mishi Mboko (Likoni), Mohammed Zamzam (Mombasa Woman Rep), Badi Twalib (Jomvu), Machele Mohamed Soud (Mvita) and Mohamed Faki (Mombasa Senator).
Medical Experts have indicated that the stimulants can cause many side effects including mood changes, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, anxiety, depression all of which leadership at the coast have correlated with the recent increase in juvenile delinquency in the region.