By Rhoda Mutuku
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has come under fire with religious leaders in Mombasa now asking him to apologies following his recent calls to have the ban on Shisha lifted on grounds that it was hurting the economy.
Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) said shisha is among the social vices that have continued to erode cultural and religious values of coastal communities to virtually irrevocable levels and it was therefore unthinkable for Balala to attempt to overrule the ban.
“We are asking Balala to apologies to the Muslim and coastal communities in general because besides health concerns, the idea of lifting the ban is absolutely against our values,” said the Council’s Mombasa region secretary, Khalfan Ali.
Balala who spoke during the induction workshop of the national assembly committee on sports, tourism and culture, said the ban on shisha was imposed in rash and went on to frustrate investors.
“The whole world has Shisha! Why are you banning it in Kenya?” the CS posed “It is unacceptable to wake up overnight and arrest people who have put a lot of money to create jobs.”
In this regard, the CS said the ban implemented on December 28, could be detrimental to a section of the tourism industry.
Balala’s remarks appeared to contradict his outgoing Health counterpart CS Cleopa Mailu who announced ban on the importation, manufacture, sale, and use of Shisha citing health grounds.
The ministry directed that anyone found contravening the new rules will be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh50,000 or six months imprisonment.
But Balala held that the ban should have been executed in a better way noting some government agencies are now taking advantage of the situation to harass investors.
Now Supkem has vowed to stage demonstrations in Mombasa to protest Balala’s remarks should the CS fail to change his opinion about shisha ban.
“If he can support the use of shisha, then it means he sees no harm in shisha both health wise and religiously,” said Supkem’s Mombasa chair, Sheikh Ali Saidana.
The leaders further promised to draft anti-shisha summons and forward them to Imams of all mosques in Mombasa as part of the campaign against shisha smoking in the region.
“We have been vocal on this issue even before the ban. And when the government announced the ban it was a relief to us,” said the chair adding Supkem will continue resisting all activities that are against the cultural values including advocating for closure of all strip dancing clubs.
