Crackdown cuts off Kwale’s drug supply route

The impact of an abrupt shortage of heroin and other substances in Kwale has precipitated a new crisis of debilitating withdrawal symptoms among addicts.

The unprecedented shortage has now seen most addicts develop constant body pain due to the withdrawal syndrome associated with the sudden reduction and absence of drugs, especially heroin.

Authorities across the Coast region have declared war on narcotics, which has led to a sudden drop in supply and many addicts not committed to rehabilitation centres are now in pain.

Peter Mutua Musili, 37, a resident of Mwingi, who has been using heroin for 25 years, says since Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery launched the war on drugs, he has no access to narcotics as a result of the shortage.

“I have not used heroin since the crackdown began. I am in great pain, please help me,” he pleaded.

Musili, who could hold back his tears, says he is in constant pain and has sought help from Teens Watch, a local rehabilitation centre, which sent him to Diani health centre for detoxification.

His state is more perilous because the crackdown has not been accompanied by hospital-based rehabilitation and most addicts have been left to dry out on their own.

Previously, rehabilitation efforts have been hampered by an endless ethical debate about or not whether to introduce methadone, which some doctors’ claim can be useful in weaning away addicts from narcotics.

A majority of activists support the introduction of methadone and supply of clean needles to addicts to stem infection through contaminated implements, but an equal number resist the proposals on ethical and religious grounds, claiming doing so will accelerate addiction.

Mutua is among the 350 addicts in Diani who inject heroin directly to their veins, according to Teens Watch Coordinator Cosmas Maina.

With the help of Teens Watch, Mutua was taken to Msambweni District Hospital where he is recuperating with two other addicts.

The centre, the only one in Kwale, has been working closely with 1,750 hard drugs addicts,   24 of them women. It is approximated that the Mombasa-Lunga lunga Highway has at least 3,500 addicts.

We also meet 36-year-old Sophia Jatani at the facility. The mother of two has been a heroin addict for 13 years.

Proper planning

“I have come here to seek general medical help and to address my addiction problem,” she says.

Maina says he is overwhelmed by the number of addicts flocking his office in search of help.

Because of the growing demand, a gramme of heroin, which initially cost between Sh100 and Sh150, has since recorded a sharp price increase of between Sh200 and Sh250.

In as much as residents and other leaders have welcomed the move on the crackdowns, the addicts are of a different opinion.

They have alleged police harassment, contrary to Nkaissery pledge that no security agent would arrest anyone.

Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya has warned that if the war on narcotics is not properly handled, it could have disastrous and unintended consequences. Speaking at Mvindeni area where he launched training on beach traders, Mvurya noted that county was in the process of constructing a rehabilitation centre at Kombani.

The wing will also be used to administer methadol to addicts. However, some say the facility should be set up in Diani since the majority of users are from there. The crackdown follows President Uhuru Kenyatta’s notice to wipe out narcotics use in the Coast region. The President declared total war on drug trafficking and   urged local leaders to work with the security agencies to ensure that traffickers are prosecuted.

In Kwale, most drugs are said to come from neighbouring Tanzania, through Lunga Lunga and other porous ports like Vanga and Shimoni.

The drugs are then taken to Mombasa before being brought back, but are now scarce,” Maina said.

The Msambweni Sub-County Commissioner Mwangangi Mwania said they were pursuing some barons at Kinondo after receiving crucial leads.