A 23-year-old woman was arrested for selling bhang at the Thika law courts to suspects who were brought to court from different cells.
The woman appeared before Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo on Monday, September 25, where she was charged with trafficking narcotic drugs, contrary to section 4(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act No. 4 of 2022.
Furthermore, the court detailed that the 23-year-old was selling the narcotics to the suspects on September 7, 2023.
According to the court documents, she had 20 rolls of bhang with her when she was caught. The rolls were valued at Ksh2,000.
Moreover, the accused woman begged the magistrate for forgiveness, surprising Magistrate Atambo who further reprimanded her.
“How can you ask for forgiveness when you came to sell bhang in court,” the magistrate questioned.
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The court directed that she remains in Thika prison for an additional two weeks to allow for the completion and presentation of a narcotic report from the government chemist.
Her sentencing was scheduled for October 9, 2023.
Gachagua Order on Illicit Brews and Drugs
Earlier on January 26, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ordered a crackdown on illicit brews and drugs in the country.
Moreover, he ordered chiefs, sub-chiefs and regional commanders to work together and forge a partnership to tackle the menace.
He also ordered county governments to regulate issuance of licenses for bars and pubs, stating that consumption of illicit liquor had reached worrying levels and threatened to end a generation of the youth especially Central Kenya.
Kenyan Law and Penalties on Bhang
According to section 4(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act No. 4 of 2022, any person who traffics in any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance or any substance represented or held out by him to be a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance shall be guilty of an offence.
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“The person is liable to a fine of one million shillings or three times the market value of the narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, whichever is the greater, and, in addition, to imprisonment for life,” the Act reads in part.
Moreover, in respect of cannabis, where the person satisfies the court that the cannabis was intended solely for his own consumption, the individual is liable to imprisonment for ten years and in every other case to imprisonment for twenty years.
