Efforts are under way to declare drug addiction among Kenyans a national disaster.
Secretary of National Administration, Ministry of Interior Victor Okioma said drug addiction in the country is worrying and must be addressed urgently.
Okioma said the ministry of interior is in the forefront in the fight against drug abuse in the country.
“We are doing much we can to contain drug addiction in the country. We are really trying to have it declared a national disaster,” he said.
He said the ministry has been pushing for the declaration of drug abuse as a national disaster but so far that has not been achieved.
He said the protocol to have the declaration is a long process and the ministry has roped in the cabinet to approve the declaration before the president declares.
Speaking in Kisumu when he closed a training workshop for counsellors from different companies in Western Kenya organised by National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada), Okioma said the country is losing a number of young people due to drug addiction.
He called upon the counsellors to help the government to reverse the worrying drug addiction trend by creating awareness on the dangers of drugs.
“You have been trained and it is now your duty to help the government fight this scourge that is consuming a generation,” he said.
Okioma said the trained counsellors remain a knowledge bank for the society and they must work for the betterment of the community.