State Restricts Bars from Operating Near Learning Institutions

By Carlos Onyango

The state has today ordered the closure of bars that are within 300 meters of learning institutions to help curb the drug abuse menace and prevalence among school going children.

This direction was given out to all regional commissioners by Interior Principal Secretary Peter Thuku during the release of a report by the National Authority for Campaign against Drug Abuse (NACADA).

The report showed that kiosks and bars are some of the places primary schoolchildren get access to alcohol and other substances they abuse.

The report also indicates that tobacco, prescription drugs, and alcohol are the most prevalent in schools and the surrounding areas.

“We should ensure drug abuse does not disrupt learning. The Government is committed to weed out alcohol dens and counterfeit alcohol from the market,” said Mr Thuku in his statement.

“The pupils were asked to identify where their colleagues obtain drugs and substances of abuse. The largest proportion of pupils indicated the shops or kiosks near schools (29 per cent) and bars (26 per cent),” says the report.

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Another report by NACADA previously revealed that the age bracket 13-15 is critical as this is the period children get initiated into drug and substance abuse. Majority of children in this age group have either just sat their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations or are in their early years in secondary school.

The agency interviewed 3,908 students – 60 per cent male and 40 per cent female – selected randomly from 77 schools around the country.

When asked the source of alcohol and drugs, 32 per cent said students got the stuff from friends.

Some 29.3 per cent said the drugs and alcohol were carried from home while some 25.7 per cent said they bought from other students. Some 22 per cent mentioned that students accessed alcohol from “a bar near school” while 19 per cent said they bought from brew dens.

The order by the principal secretary also extends to makeshift kiosks near schools.