NACADA blames students’ unrest on drug abuse

By KBC Reporter

The National Authority for the Campaign against Drugs and Alcohol Abuse (NACADA) says drug abuse is to blame for the recent wave of student unrest witnessed in the country.

Nacada Chairperson John Mututho alleges that there is a cartel supplying drugs to university students in the country, including the University of Nairobi.

Mututho said the mayhem and destruction witnessed at the main campus for the past three days and which has led to the indefinite closure is a result of drug use and drug abuse.

Mututho who spoke in Naivasha, said the students often hurdle around specific points at the university coercing other students to join in the business.

Mututho says the gang of drug peddlers has been operating in and out of the University and enjoys the protection of police officers who are just across the institution of higher learning.

Mututho says 50 percent of university students across the country are addicted to drugs, a trend he terms as worrying and is now calling on  police ensure culprits are brought to book.

The University of Nairobi was on Tuesday ordered shut following days of running battles with the students having set ablaze the Students Organization of Nairobi University (SONU) offices.

The Univesity’s Senate ordered the closure of the University effective from 5 pm on Tuesday.

The students have been protesting the re-election of Babu Owino as SONU Chairman. A post he has held for the last three terms and was beginning a fourth term.