{"id":56759,"date":"2026-01-06T13:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/president-ruto-proposes-death-penalty-for-drug-traffickers-in-kenya\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T13:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:08:12","slug":"president-ruto-proposes-death-penalty-for-drug-traffickers-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/president-ruto-proposes-death-penalty-for-drug-traffickers-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"President Ruto proposes death penalty for drug traffickers in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking at an engagement ceremony in Uasin Gishu County on Saturday, January 3, the Head of State said the government is drafting a law that would make drug-related offences a capital crime, punishable by hanging. He emphasised that the legislation is a response to the failure of current penalties, which have not deterred traffickers and have left communities and families vulnerable to the devastating impact of drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all these people who are involved in the illicit alcohol trade, we are going to change the law. In the past, we had a law with a clause that if you were caught selling substances, including hard drugs such as heroin, the only penalty was a fine of Ksh1 million (approximately 11 million Rwandan francs). Now we are changing that so that you can be hanged,\u201d Ruto said.<\/p>\n

He added that the law will also empower authorities to confiscate assets obtained through illicit drug and alcohol trade, including vehicles and property.<\/p>\n

The President called on Members of Parliament to support the new legislation, noting that over five million Kenyans are affected by drug and alcohol abuse, which he described as a national crisis that threatens the country\u2019s social and economic development.<\/p>\n

The announcement follows Ruto\u2019s plans to strengthen the government\u2019s law enforcement response. In his New Year’s address at Eldoret State Lodge on December 31, the President outlined plans to establish a robust Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The unit, he said, will be trained to operate at the level of Kenya\u2019s elite Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, with capabilities in intelligence, surveillance, forensics, and financial investigations.<\/p>\n

Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen supported the move, noting that countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and China impose the death penalty for serious drug offences. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot achieve first-world status while the most productive generation is being wiped out by drugs and alcohol,\u201d he said, highlighting the ineffectiveness of current fines in curbing trafficking.<\/p>\n

Murkomen added that the government\u2019s crackdown will target major drug barons and operators of illicit alcohol, with special attention to young people from well-off families who are increasingly becoming addicted. <\/p>\n

Currently, one in every six Kenyans aged 15 to 65 uses at least one substance, with alcohol being the most prevalent, affecting over 3.2 million people.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President William Ruto has proposed introducing the death penalty for individuals involved in the sale and trafficking of hard drugs and illicit alcohol, in a move aimed at tackling Kenya\u2019s escalating substance abuse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000100291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000100291,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/william_ruto_logo_photo.png","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/png","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/william_ruto_logo_photo.png","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/william_ruto_logo_photo.png","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/william_ruto_logo_photo.png","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/william_ruto_logo_photo.png","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/william_ruto_logo_photo.png","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000100291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56759"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56759"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}