The Tanzania government is proposing a new and tougher law to curb drug trafficking in the country, which has become a major gateway for international drug-cartels.
The Drug Control and Enforcement Bill, 2014 was moved yesterday in Parliament in Dodoma as MPs pointed fingers to corruption and political interference as the main impediment in the war against drug trafficking.
Provisions in the new law include establishment of an independent agency to coordinate the war against the vice. The body would replace the current drugs commission whose mandate is only limited to public campaigns.
It will be known as The Drug Control and Enforcement Authority for the Prevention and Control of Substance Abuse and Drug Trafficking.
The Bill repeals the Drugs and Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Drugs Act that the government admitted was ineffective.
According to Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), Jenester Mhagama, the new law provides for stiffer penalties and jail terms to offenders in drug related cases.
A person possessing, dealing in, trafficking, selling, cultivating, purchasing, using or financing of any narcotic or psychotropic substance, shall upon conviction be liable to imprisonment for up to 30 years.
They will also be slapped with fines ranging from Sh5 million to Sh1 billion depending on the gravity of the offence. Other bigger offenders will be jailed for life, according to the minister.
The law also provide for establishment of Rehabilitation Centres countrywide for treatment of addicts and for supply of therapeutic narcotic drugs.
For many years, the public called for establishment of a court-like agency to scale up the war against drug trafficking and abuse, which have painted Tanzania as a major transit point for narcotics heading to South America and Europe.
The government has in recent months come under attack for failing to curtail a thriving drugs trade in the country. Narcotics worth billions of shillings that are spirited through Julius Nyerere International Airport have been netted in other parts of the world despite a campaign to stamp out the high risk trade.
News of the new law comes at a time when pressure is mounting for the authorities to crack down on drug kingpins who have made the country a soft landing port.
The Parliamentary Committee on Social Services said the new law should provide for a special court to adjudicate drug cases expeditiously.
“In Bangladesh for example, they established a special court which has since then helped to weed out criminals,’’ said the committee acting chairperson, Neema Mgaya.
While debating the bill MPs yesterday put their political differences aside and unanimously agreed that people dealing with illicit drugs in the country be hanged or shot dead upon conviction.
Africa Review
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