On Thursday, Kenyans work on the news that the Ministry of Health, under the directive of the Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu had banned the importation, manufacture, use, sale, and advertising of shisha.
Kenyans took to the social media to express their opinion on the matter. Apparently, many Kenyans are happy and support the ban but some are not. Some, however, took the opportunity to make fun of those they thought were the “largest consumers of shisha”.
For some time now, the smoking of shisha has been associated with the ladies who are commonly known as Slay Queens. Some people felt this new breed of beauties was the one that received a blow from the ban on shisha.
” Slay Queens will turn to using bhang, tobacco and any kind of smoke inhaling just to quench their thirst for shisha,” someone posted. “Shisha queens will feel so dry and so hopeless that they will start mistaking gas cooking cylinders to shisha containers” another one chipped in.
Another one went ahead to suggest to Mathare Mental Hospital to increase its bed capacity as many casualties of shisha ban will be heading there.
According to medical practitioners, the ban on shisha has come at the right time as it was slowly turning into the menace. According to the medics, the one hour of shisha smoking is an equivalent of smoking more than 200 pieces of cigarette. They say that the smoking of shisha was more dangerous than smoking cigarette.
Kenya now becomes the third country to ban the use of shisha after Tanzania and Rwanda. Some, however, feel the ban is just a PR exercise to try and “show Rwanda that Kenya is still the queen of East Africa.”
Businessmen have blamed the ministry for banning the substance without a notice. Some say they had invested millions in the business and employed tens of people and that the ban is going to cost them a fortune as well as leading to them laying off their staff.
If the ban takes effect, those found will be forced to pay a fine not more than 50,000 shillings, be sentenced to jail for a period, not more than six months or both.