• Already, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has stepped up operations. In Diani, detectives acting on intelligence arrested a trafficker and recovered multiple gunny bags stuffed with cannabis, alongside a vehicle suspected of being used in the trade. DCI Director Mohamed Amin has pledged zero tolerance for traffickers, warning that officers complicit in illicit networks will face severe consequences.

When President William Ruto declared drug and substance abuse a national disaster in his New Year’s address, he framed it as a “silent but deadly” threat undermining Kenya’s public health, economic productivity, and national security.

The crackdown means Kenya is no longer treating substance abuse as a peripheral issue. It is now positioned as a central national crisis, demanding a whole-of-government response. For families who have lost loved ones, for communities disrupted by addiction, and for policymakers under pressure from rising youth drug use, the declaration signals urgency, accountability, and a promise of action.

On January 7, 2026, Ruto chaired a high-level multi-agency meeting at State House, Nairobi to operationalize this agenda. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja, Deputy IGs Eliud Lang’at and Gilbert Masengeli, and DCI Director Mohamed Amin joined National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) officials and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) regulators to map out a coordinated response.

Photo credit: X

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The meeting directed that legal frameworks be finalized within ten days to strengthen accountability, rehabilitation centers established across all 47 counties, specialist units created in referral hospitals, and enforcement teams deployed at border points to disrupt trafficking. Ruto emphasized that the government would apply a whole-of-government approach integrating prevention, enforcement, treatment, and recovery.

Already, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has stepped up operations. In Diani, detectives acting on intelligence arrested a trafficker and recovered multiple gunny bags stuffed with cannabis, alongside a vehicle suspected of being used in the trade. DCI Director Mohamed Amin has pledged zero tolerance for traffickers, warning that officers complicit in illicit networks will face severe consequences.

Photo credit: X

He has toured counties such as Marsabit to assess police readiness and rally community support, stressing that drug abuse is not only a policing issue but a profound threat to Kenya’s development.

Meanwhile, NACADA is rolling out awareness campaigns and community roadshows to shift social norms, while KEBS strengthens regulatory enforcement against illicit alcohol. County governments are expected to provide treatment facilities and community-level support, linking national directives to grassroots realities. Together, these initiatives reflect a coordinated push to confront addiction from multiple angles—law enforcement, rehabilitation, prevention, and public education.

For President Ruto, the crackdown positions his administration as proactive on a major social crisis ahead of the 2027 elections. For enforcement agencies, it means expanded resources and accountability. For communities, it offers hope that addiction will be treated as a public health emergency.

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