Why Miraa remains in Kenya's drugs law years after being legalised
Eastern
By
Phares Mutembei
| Jan 05, 2026
The removal of miraa in the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act 1994 must be a top priority in the development of the crop, a lobby has said.
The Nyambene Miraa Farmers and Traders Association (Nyamita) said the removal of the stimulant crop from the list of drugs as scheduled by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) should be prioritised by parliament.
Association chairman Kimathi Munjuri said it is going to two years since the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill 2024 was subjected to public participation, but farmers, traders and other stakeholders were in the dark on its fate.
Nyamita is among the stakeholders that presented their recommendations to the Senate committee, where they said miraa in its natural form should be excluded from the list of drugs and psychotropic substances.
The classification by Nacada of miraa as a drug had compromised its marketing and promotion and Nyamita said it is a legal crop under the laws of the country.
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Nyamita has written to Senate speaker Amason Kingi inquiring the status of the proposed legislation.
"Since the said public participation was done at Argale Hotel Mombasa Road Nairobi, we have not heard about the progress to fruition of the Bill; whether our proposal was accepted and we are not clear what to expect," Munjuri said.
He said the proposal to remove miraa, popularly known as khat and predominantly grown in northern parts of Meru and, to a lesser degree in Tharaka Nithi and Embu, was very critical.
It was one of the main recommendations of the Miraa Scientific Conference report of 2021.
Munjuri said the farmers, traders and others in the Miraa and muguka value chain were banking on speaker Kingi, his deputy Kathuri Murungi, the Meru senator and MPs from Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu to help push the agenda of removing miraa from the list of drugs and psychotropic substances.
"To all of us join hands to push through this legislation this year after ensuring that as drafted, it is indeed excluding miraa in its natural form from the psychotropic and narcotics Act of 1994."
Munjuri said it worried them that it is going to two years since the proposed law was tabled in the Senate.
Leaders and farmers from Meru have for years argued that it was ironical that the National Assembly passed a law recognising miraa as a legal crop yet Nacada, a government agency, classifies it in the list.
Sustained efforts by former Meru Woman rep Forence Kajuju led to its recognition as a legal cash crop in 2016.
Stakeholders point fingers at some of the agencies, including Nacada, that they said are an obstacle to value addition of the crop, despite the huge potential that exists.
Among those is World Health Organisation (WHO) which classified the stimulant crop as a drug with adverse psychological effects.
Among products that can be derived from Miraa are juice, energy drink, gin.