NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 16 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Friday declared money and property seized from drug traffickers will be used to build rehabilitation centers, as Coast counties move to set aside land to help tackle drug addiction.
Speaking in Mombasa during a security and service delivery consultative meeting with leaders from the six Coastal counties, Murkomen said the government is shifting focus from only arresting drug dealers to also taking away their wealth and turning it into public good.
“We are not just going for the drugs or the arrests. We will also go for their properties, sell them and use the money to build rehabilitation centers,” Murkomen said.
He revealed that the President has directed county governments to provide land for the construction of rehabilitation facilities, noting that Mombasa and other Coast counties have already started the process.
The centers, he said, will help people rescued from drug abuse to recover and return to productive lives.
Murkomen said the drug problem at the Coast is closely linked to juvenile gangs, crime and alcohol abuse.
While security agencies have made progress in reducing gang activities, he warned that the problem still resurfaces and requires long-term solutions beyond arrests.
“We must reform these young people, engage them in work and skills training, and deal with the drug problem that fuels crime,” he said.
The Interior CS said the government has intensified crackdowns on major drug traffickers, especially those dealing in heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs.
He cited recent seizures, including drugs worth billions of shillings intercepted at sea, and cannabis trafficked through porous borders.
According to Murkomen, the new approach targets the entire drug network from traffickers and transporters to financiers with the aim of dismantling organized drug cartels completely.