Kenya is among the countries in Eastern and Southern Africa that have become a major transit region in the global flow of illicit drugs, with Kenya and South Africa identified as key entry points for cocaine.

A report by the Eastern and Southern Africa Commission on Drugs (ESACD) has revealed that significant quantities of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine are shipped to and through the region’s air, land and sea ports each year.

These flows arrive and transit through supply hubs alongside legal trade, and an overwhelming volume of the drug flows remain undetected.

The report, however, states that it is difficult to fully comprehend the scale of the maritime trade environment, particularly as it relates to the region’s coastlines, since the area is vast, the traffic patterns vary, and the formal and informal trade flows involve many vessel types and sizes.

Intelligence and research confirm that maritime flows of heroin enter the region via coastal points in Tanzania and central Mozambique.

ESACD has also said cannabis is the most used illicit substance in the region and across the continent, with its supply chains largely interregional in nature.

Unlike other substances, in general, cannabis produced in the region is also consumed there, and Kenya and Uganda have also been identified as important origin countries for the supply of cannabis in the region.

“While there is evidence of some additional supply from countries of neighbouring regions, Kenya, Eswatini, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda have been identified as important origin countries for the supply of cannabis in the region,” the report states.

The report, launched last week in Nairobi by the Commission, chaired by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, shows that the availability of drugs in our region has increased, accompanied by a concerning rise in their potency.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, who represented President William Ruto during the launch, said there was an urgent need for a coordinated, comprehensive, all-government and all-society approach to an evolving and complex challenge.

“We must move beyond traditional approaches rooted in criminalisation, stigma, and exclusion, and pursue a more balanced, health-centred, and human rights-based approach that addresses the underlying social and economic drivers of drug use. Sustainable solutions lie in reframing drug policy as both a public health and a development priority,” the CS said.

The report has also revealed that strict drug prohibition measures and arrests and incarceration in East and Southern Africa have failed to stop or reduce illicit drug supply or consumption.

The report also warned that the criminalisation of drug use, which contributes to a large proportion of arrests and incarcerations in the region, increases exposure to infectious diseases and amplifies transmission in prisons and in the general community.

“Decriminalisation should be considered for drug use,” the report recommends.

According to ESACD, the criminalisation of drugs and drug use has led law-enforcement and judicial structures to respond to rising drug use by arresting, convicting and incarcerating large numbers of people – including children and young people – for drug-related crimes.

“Young people across the region already face the challenge of high youth unemployment, and this is exacerbated for those who use drugs or have criminal convictions. Furthermore, the incarceration of parents and guardians of dependent children has an impact on the children involved,” the report states.

It adds: “The problems caused by current drug policy approaches cut across healthcare, social care, criminal justice and education, and have long-lasting implications for young people well into adulthood.” ESACD has also warned that increasing profits from the trafficking of ever larger volumes of drugs through the region have fueled corruption, broadly defined as the ‘abuse of entrusted authority for illicit gain’, penetrating state systems and fundamentally undermining good governance.

“The corruption of government officials and subsequent infiltration of drug profits into state processes is a powerful structural enabler of drug markets in the ESA region. Corruption facilitates the operations and growth of the illicit market, while criminal actors leverage illicit proceeds to entrench existing corruption structures and drive the creation of new ones,” the report adds.

The launch in Nairobi was attended by ESACD Commissioners former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, former Mauritius President Cassam Uteem, Ondrej Simek, the Deputy Head of the European Union delegation in Kenya, Dr Mark Shaw, the Director Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime and Kenya’s former Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga, among others.