A court in Embu Tuesday suspended an order by coast counties to ban sale and consumption of Muguka in their areas.
Justice Lucy Njuguna made the order following an application made by Kutherema Muguka Sacco Society Limited and the local county government among others.
The judge also certified the application urging.
“Pending interpartes hearing and determination of this application a conservatory order be and is hereby granted restraining and/or stopping the Respondents and or its agents from effecting, implementing and or enforcing Executive Order No. 1 issued on 22nd May 2024 by the 1st Respondent and 2nd and 3rd Respondents to last until the 8th July 2024 when the application shall be heard inter parties,” said the order.
This is a relief for the farmers who were counting loses over the ban.
She ordered that the application be served upon the respondents within seven days.
This was a separate case from a similar one filed in Nairobi.
Last week the three counties, Mombasa, Kilifi and Taita Taveta banned the entry, transportation, sale, and use of Muguka and its products. Kwale county governor Fatuma Achani refused to follow her colleagues in the ban.
In the Nairobi case, Peter Odhiambo Agoro and Michael Mutembe Makarina argue that Muguka is not perceived as a drug and that is why it is legal in the country.
They argued NACADA has not declared Muguka a narcotic nor banned it, saying that the Miraa regulations 2021 recognises both Miraa and Muguka as legitimate crops in Kenya.
“Muguka is a variety of Miraa by taste, product and active ingredients which is still cathinone, there’s no law separating Miraa from Muguka and no single law prohibiting it’s sale or consumption,” they argue.
The two businessmen say that there was no public participation adding that the ban of a product or service protected through an act of parliament is the sole power of the national government.
The two further argue that county governments cannot choose to regulate to have the legal procedures before undertaking the ban.
“According to Kenyan law, only parliament through the national assembly and senate can declare a substance narcotic or psychotropic through le legislation,” reads court papers.
The two now want the court to declare the ban as illegal and unconstitutional.
They also want the court to restrain the three county governments from implementing the said decision.
President William Ruto met leaders of Embu County in Nairobi who have been protesting the move by coast counties to ban the sale and consumption of muguka in their areas.
Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, who was also at the meeting, informed the meeting that mũgũka, a variety of Miraa, is a scheduled crop in accordance with the Crops Act 2013 and the Miraa Regulations 2023.
“With Mũgũka having been recognised by national legislation, any other laws or order that contradicts national legislation is null and void. The Crops Act 2013 and the Miraa Regulations 2023 were passed by the National Assembly and the Senate and with the concurrence of the Council of Governors,” a dispatch from State House said.
The dispatch said having been passed by Parliament, the regulations obligate the government to allocate funds for the farming, licencing, promotion, regulation, transportation, aggregation, selling, marketing and export of the crop.
To operationalise the Crops Act 2013 the regulation provide for the establishment of the Miraa/Mũgũka Pricing Committee.
Consequently, the Council of Governors has already nominated three members to the committee.
The regulations also provide for a Miraa/Mũgũka Standard Code of Practice, which will regulate the farming, licencing, promotion, regulation, transportation, aggregation, selling, marketing and export of the crop.
To address concerns of all parties and stakeholders the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock was directed to convene a consultative forum to address concerns raised and agree on the implementation of the Miraa/Mũgũka Regulations 2023.
“The future of Miraa/Mũgũka is in scaling up farming, aggregation, grading, pricing, packaging and value addition of the crop.”
“For this reason, the government has committed to allocate Sh500 million in the 2024/25 Financial Year for value addition of these scheduled crops,” the statement said.
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