This archive report was first published on 5 August 2019.
On August 5, 2019, a Nairobi resident, Ibrahim Mohamud Ibrahim, filed a lawsuit at the High Court of Kenya, seeking to ban the production, sale, and consumption of cigarettes in the country.
The lawsuit, which names the Ministry of Health, its Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki, and the Attorney-General as defendants, also lists British American Tobacco (BAT) company as an interested party.
Mr. Ibrahim argues that the government has created an enabling environment that leaves everyone exposed to smoking dangers, despite the known health risks associated with tobacco consumption.
He points out that in the US, cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths every year, and that similar risks are associated with smoking in Kenya, including stroke, heart diseases, tuberculosis, and cardiovascular disease, besides cancer.
Mr. Ibrahim also argues that the government's ban on shisha in December 2017 did not go far enough, as it did not prohibit all tobacco products, and that the economic interest of tobacco products on revenue for the government should not override the health of the public.
