Kenya khat exporters seek legal action on UK ban

Khat exporters and farmers in Kenya are considering raising a lawsuit against the British government at the European Union Court after London started enforcing a ban on the leafy narcotic on Tuesday.

"This is the only livelihood we know; Britain has been our major market," Jeremiah Muturi, a Khat farmer, told Anadolu Agency.

Muturi is one of the country's Khat farmers and exporters who rallied to take legal action against the U.K. ban at the European court after an earlier petition failed at a London court.  

"Our lawyers will be communicating to us on when we expect to appeal the decision," Muturi said.

London has banned Khat as a "class C" drug. Starting Tuesday, anyone found to possess the stimulant will be slapped with a 60-pound fine, while suppliers risk 14-year jail terms.

Recent official statistics in Kenya show that Khat, referred to locally as "veve" or "miraa," is one of Kenya's main exports, earning farmers nearly $100 million a year.

The World Health Organization says Khat users can suffer from a range of diseases, including tuberculosis, anemia and impotence. It has also been banned in Europe, the U.S. and Canada.

Mahmud Ahmed, a London-based lawyer representing Khat traders, told AA that they would soon be making official overtures to the European Union court.

"I will confirm to you once we file the case with the E.U. court, at least within a period of two weeks," Ahmed confirmed to AA.

-Major blow-

Traders and farmers fear the ban will prove a major economic setback for the central Meru County, whose major economic activity is the Khat trade.

"Many of us in Maua town will be rendered jobless. And some youth will now find themselves drawn in to crime. What else can they do when a livelihood is taken?" asked Nickson Muriithi, a Maua resident.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta recently promised Khat farmers and traders that he would be petitioning the U.K. government about then ban, while opposition leader Raila Odinga sent a petition letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron to urge his government to change its mind on the narcotic.

Lawmaker Mithika Linturi has protested the ban, calling it "economic sabotage" by Britain.

"Meru as a county has 1.7 to 1.8 million people. A majority rely on the miraa trade. That kind of population with no jobs is a serious kind of a problem in this area and the country as whole," he told AA by phone.

The lawmaker, who represents Igembe South in Meru, said he was planning to take a motion to parliament to have land owned by British nationals in Meru and neighboring Laikipia repossessed as retaliation against the Khat ban. Most of these lands are ranches or wheat, horticulture and floriculture farms.

Khat is mainly grown on the fertile hills of Meru County. Kenya used to export about 13 to 20 tons of Khat to Britain every day, giving the East African country close to 1.4 billion Kenyan shillings (about $17 million) every month.

In Britain, Khat is mainly chewed by Somalis, Yemenis, Kenyans and Ethiopians.

Muturi, the Khat farmer, said they are now looking for alternative markets after the ban by Britain went into effect.

Yet he still hopes Britain will reverse the ban.

"We are prepared to use millions of dollars to have Britain reverse its decision. This is such a blow to our lives and that of thousands involved in the Khat trade," Muturi added.

By Yassin Juma

englishnews@aa.com.tr

www.aa.com.tr/en