Public participation: Bar owners petition House over the Tobacco Bill

Tobacco and nicotine industry is increasingly targeting young people in Kenya.[Courtesy]

Stakeholders in the entertainment industry have petitioned Parliament, calling for comprehensive, nationwide public participation in the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

Under the aegis of the Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK), industry players in the petition presented to the National Assembly yesterday stressed the need to engage Kenyans on the Bill before it proceeds any further.

PERAK Chairman Michael Muthami led the team in presenting the petition, while they called for evidence-based, open and transparent public participation on the Bill.

“Our position is simple: any law that will significantly impact businesses, consumers, traders, and livelihoods across the country must be informed by the views of the people it will affect. We believe the current public participation arrangements are inadequate and do not provide sufficient opportunity for Kenyans from all regions to make their views known,” Muthami said.

He said PERAK members are particularly concerned about proposals that could raise the cost of doing business, impose additional licensing requirements on traders, and potentially fuel illicit trade through measures such as flavour bans on tobacco and nicotine products.

He said members believe these issues warrant wider consultation and a more thorough assessment of their economic and practical implications.

“We have today presented petitions from Kenyans drawn from various constituencies who are asking Parliament, through the National Assembly's Committee on Health, to take this conversation beyond Nairobi and into the counties. This is especially important given the concerns that many stakeholders have raised regarding some of the proposed amendments,” he affirmed.

He, however, clarified that they are not opposed to regulation but support evidence-based policies that protect public health while taking into account the realities facing businesses, workers, traders, and consumers.

But according to him, such policies can only be effective if they are developed through an open, transparent, and inclusive process.

“We urge the National Assembly not to repeat the shortcomings that stakeholders say characterised the earlier process at the Senate. Instead, we ask Members of Parliament to conduct genuine nationwide public participation and give all affected Kenyans an opportunity to be heard before any final decisions are made,” he said.

“This Bill represents the first major amendment to the Tobacco Control Act since 2007. It is, therefore, critical that Parliament gets it right by ensuring that every voice counts,” he added.

The Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, sponsored by Senator Catherine Mumma, seeks to amend the Tobacco Control Act, 2007, by introducing stricter regulations on the production, sale, advertisement, and use of nicotine products, including nicotine pouches and electronic cigarettes (vapes).

The current law has been cited as outdated and does not adequately address the rapid growth in the use of electronic nicotine products, nicotine pouches, and synthetic nicotine.