Students to take random drug tests in new drive

The Ministry of Education and the national anti-drug agency, Nacada, will roll out a comprehensive programme to stamp out narcotics abuse in schools following revelations that the vice is on the upswing in learning institutions.

The ministry and the National Authority for Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse say they will, from this October, start random tests in schools to weed out the drugs menace.

Details of the plans will be laid out tomorrow (Sunday), but Nacada Director Mohammed Fazul, told The Standard on Saturday the government is contemplating closing down schools that will be found to have a high drug incidence, as part of measures to tackle the scourge. Any school that scores an incidence rate of 70 per cent and above from the random drugs tests of its students will become a candidate for closure, he said.

“We also plan to prosecute head teachers of schools with high drug incidence. In addition, we plan to standardise alcohol and drugs policy in schools, which also affect the conduct of teaching staff,” says Mr Fazul.
Fazul says the punitive decisions is borne out of realisation that there is inconsistency in the manner school heads, parents and security agencies address the issue.

He would not say how they intend to navigate possible legal hurdles from these measures. Nacada would not state if it has the capacity to carry out the tests. However, Fazul hinted that the agency would consider outsourcing the services. Ordinarily, Nacada uses the Government Chemist to test alcohol contents.

Nefarious trade

The director of quality assurance and standards in the Ministry of Education, Mohammed Mwinyipembe, a member of the joint Nacada and Ministry of Education team that is working out plans to combat drug abuse in schools, would not respond specifically to the new development when reached for comment.

However, he did admit school heads would be held to account in the enforcement of already existing rules and regulations “as they are the principle quality assurance officer number one.” The old regulations do not include prosecution of head teachers.
The radical move comes in the wake of growing incidence of drug peddling in government-maintained institutions, especially in urban areas.

The puzzle becomes starker following recent revelations that some members of the disciplined forces (police and military) may be involved as ‘mules’ (carriers) in the nefarious trade. The scale of drug incidence in schools was highlighted at the beginning of third term this month when Moi Forces Academy Chief Principal Peter W Warui impounded 52 rolls of cannabis sativa that some students had brought into the school on opening day.

The swoop laid bare how the high security Moi Air Base may have become a major transit point for drugs circulating in schools in Nairobi’s Eastlands poor neighbourhoods.
According to Mr Warui, ease of access to the school compound through its eastern gate that connects the school and the air base is responsible for the illicit trade that spills over to neighbouring residential areas. The military facility is situated near densely populated areas that include Huruma, Kariobangi South and North, Dandora, Eastleigh, California and a section of Pangani.

Mr Warui blamed the recent burning of a dormitory in his school to a student linked to a drug ring outside the school. Contacted, the Department of Defence acknowledged students in the military-sponsored school had been arrested with drugs. The rolls of bhang had been carefully tucked in shirt plackets that were then sewn up or stitched. The students, according to the principal, are relatives of military officers.
“The students found with drugs were expelled on account of planning to burn the school.

Lost generation

There were four cases of students caught with drugs and handed over to the police for further investigations,” said the head of public communications in the Department of Defence, Bogita Ongeri. Ongeri said the students had claimed that the source of the drugs was Buru Buru and Ngara and that they had implicated an outsourced cleaner.

“This is being investigated. In view of this, we do not understand how the eastern gate of the school is connected to the incident,” he said. The eastern gate leads to the school farm where, sources said, the peddlers bury the drugs.

Said Mr Ongeri: “At an institutional level, we cannot compromise the security and integrity of our institutions with such kinds of immoral acts. The chief principal of the school has been instructed to strengthen and intensify checks and also make arrangements for a professional counsellor to talk to students on a regular basis. We want the culture of integrity and ethical behaviour inculcated in the students as future leaders of our country.”
Mr Ongeri also denied that seven girls found with cannabis sativa at Pangani Girls School in Nairobi in February this year had sourced it at the military base.

On February 19, the principal of the school, Ms Pacifica Nyambong’i, told a parents meeting that she was forced to take action against the seven after they sneaked into the dormitories cookies laced with ‘weed’.
Nyambong’i would not be reached for comment but in a newsletter dated February 19, she says, “It has emerged that some students are carrying many illegal items including drugs to schools.”

Mr Warui, who prior to moving to Moi Forces Academy had been involved in fighting the menace at Lenana School, says drug abuse is approaching pandemic levels and must be addressed decisively. It is a position that is held by Ofafa Jericho Secondary School Principal Matthews Linge. “There is no single intervention that will work. However, counselling with the help of former addicts helps in changing habits. It has proved effective,” Linge points out. He adds, “I have handled a few cases in my school. It has to be confronted boldly or else, we risk losing a generation.”

Warui and Mr Linge concur that rampant theft among students in schools is an indicator of a drug problem. Other than stealing money, drug consumers target items that are in high demand and can be sold easily in the black market, such as Bibles, dictionaries, geometrical sets and calculators, to sustain their habits.

Mr Warui, a former member of a task-force that investigated drugs menace in secondary schools in 2001, says his antennas were pricked by the high incidence of theft among students at Moi Forces Academy. Upon investigations, he explains, the trail led him to the military base.

Furthermore, he says, he was concerned that a den of known drug pushers is situated less than 50 metres from the Huruma Police Station, but it appears not to attract the interest of the officers stationed there.
Nairobi County Police Commander Benson Kibue, who is involved in investigations after Mr Warui raised the red flag about the infiltration of learning institutions by drug peddlers, says he is aware of the problem but was quick to absolve the military facility from blame.

“Most of the youth who consume drugs live in informal settlements. Those found with drugs have been taken to court. Ours is a joint effort that involves schools, the police and parents,” said Mr Kibue. He termed the drug menace a sensitive security matter that the air base should not be dragged into.

However, Mr Warui says he has sought the intervention of Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Julius Karangi, who teachers give credit for decisively dealing with the narcotics menace. “We have informed the general about it and he has been quite helpful in getting to the bottom of the matter. Some families implicated in drugs peddling have been forced to seek residence outside the base,” says Mr Warui.