Health Ministry bans sale, use of shisha in Kenya

“No person shall import, manufacture, sell, offer for sale, use, advertise, promote or distribute shisha in Kenya.”/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 28 – The Ministry of Health has banned the sale or use of shisha in Kenya.

Speaking to Capital FM News, the Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko confirmed that the ban takes immediate effect.

Those who contravene the legal notice by even importing, advertising, manufacturing it, promoting it or distributing it, risk penalisation.

“No person shall import, manufacture, sell, offer for sale, use, advertise, promote or distribute shisha in Kenya.”

“No person shall allow, promote, facilitate or encourage or do anything to allow, promote, facilitate or encourage shisha smoking in Kenya,” the legal notice reads.

The move is in response to concerns raised with regard to its regulation.

Earlier this year, an Iranian courts banned the use of hookah water pipes in public in the holy city of Qom and northern province of Alborz due to health concerns.

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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