Kisumu traders oppose proposal to raise minimum smoking age

A segment of hospitality merchants based in Kisumu County has voiced opposition to a proposal aimed at increasing the minimum age for smoking to 21 years, arguing that the plan is impractical. During a public input session on the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill in Kisumu on Saturday, the merchants questioned the reasoning behind the proposal and expressed doubts about its implementation.

The idea of raising the age limit for nicotine and tobacco consumers emerged from a stakeholders' discussion forum in Nairobi, hosted by the National Assembly Committee on Health, earlier in the week, where some stakeholders also expressed support for the proposal. Committee Chairperson Dr. James Nyikal mentioned at the time a general agreement among stakeholders on raising the age of consent for purchasing nicotine products from 18 to 21, stating, "We are pleased as a committee because this will reduce our workload when we begin evaluating the submissions."

However, in Kisumu on Saturday, Dan Ouma, Chairperson of The Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK) in Kisumu, contested the feasibility of the proposal. "They are attempting to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21 years," Ouma stated. "We are here to inform them that it is unfeasible because the implementation details remain unclear.

Does this imply that buyers must present ID cards to make these purchases? Would we need to issue new identification documents? It is not evident how they plan to achieve this." The merchants also took issue with the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill's plan to limit the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to areas more than 100 meters away from places frequented by children.

The traders noted that current tobacco laws already provide provisions for establishing designated smoking areas to address this concern. Furthermore, the merchants criticized the Bill's requirement for tobacco merchants to obtain specific business licenses from counties, claiming that this additional licensing will only raise the costs of conducting business, as they already bear the expense of a general business permit.

Following the public input session in Kisumu and Nanyuki on Saturday, the National Assembly Committee on Health took a break to compile its report, incorporating the input from stakeholders across the country.