Kenya Tobacco Situational Analysis Consortium

Executive Summary

Kenya is at a very exciting – perhaps even crucial – stage for tobacco control. In 2007, the national legislature passed a comprehensive bill that has urgently required dynamic and systematic follow-up in terms of implementation and enforcement in all major areas (e.g. smoke-free policies, labeling, advertising, etc.). The highly active Kenyan tobacco control community is well aware of these challenges and has begun to take proactive steps to address them, including the training of inspectors to enforce both smoke-free policies and bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Notably, the training is a combined effort of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and civil society organizations, with some funding from external donors. Graphic warning labels and tobacco taxation strategies are also on the list of activities for short-term pursuit by these actors.

Though the political situation in Kenya is fraught with violent unrest following the 2007 national election and a wholesale reorganization of government, the tobacco control community is actively navigating the new landscape and maintaining close working relationships with policymakers and permanent ministry offi cials (i.e. nonelected and nonappointed). There is some continuity in personnel at the ministry level, which allows for greater consistency in activities and efforts. But there is an essential need for the community to stay well connected to the government because the tobacco industry (both British American Tobacco (BAT) and Mastermind) uses Kenya as a subregional hub for its operations, and these fi rms are aggressive in both their subversive marketing and their efforts to affect the policy process.