The government has established an inter-ministerial committee against drug abuse and trafficking as one of the stringent measures to fight the proliferation of drugs in the country.

The Minister of Health, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, announced yesterday while launching the national campaign to fight drug abuse and illicit trafficking in Kigali, which coincided with the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The event, which brought together public officials, police officers and hundreds of youths, among others, began with a walk to raise awareness to fight drug abuse from Nyabugogo Bus Park to Kimisagara One Stop Youth Centre, where the event was held.

It was characterised by entertainment by the youth and messages calling on Rwandans, especially the youth, to fight drug abuse from wherever they live.

Dr Binagwaho said the Government had committed to ensuring that drug abuse and illicit trafficking are fought to minimise the effects they have on national development.

She said the Government established a committee through a Prime Minister’s order and it is responsible for formulating, monitoring and evaluating policies related to the fight against illicit use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

The minister said recent research revealed that 52.4 per cent of Rwandans have used substance or drugs and among them 7.46 per cent are dependent on alcohol, 4.88 per cent on tobacco and 2.54 percent on cannabis.

Damning figures

Official figures also indicate that at Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital, patients with alcohol- and drugs-related ailments ranged from 440 in 2009 to 1432 in 2015, while at Huye Isange Rehabilitation Centre 109 cases between December 2015 and May 2016 were reported.

"This is enormous and this will bring down our development, this also concerns all of us, those are our kids, our brothers, our sisters and our neighbours, we all have the responsibility to stop it,” Dr Binagwaho said while commenting on the figures.

"As the leadership, we have created a committee of 15 institutions to fight drug abuse and illicit trafficking but we will achieve nothing without your support, together we can change it, together we will stop it and everyone should say that I will stop it,” she added.

The minister challenged the youth to shun the vice and denounce drug trafficking by informing authorities wherever drug users are, to ensure those addicted are helped to overcome it and live a normal live.

"Don’t forget you are the future leaders of this country. If you reject drugs and help bring to us those addicted for treatment, you are helping us in the process of curing them,” Dr Binagwaho said.

‘Vice on the rise’

Theos Badege, the director of Criminal Investigation Department at Rwanda National Police, said much as efforts were put in to fight drug use and illicit trafficking, the vice is increasing and called for relentless and concerted the efforts to combat it.

He said that although most of common drugs are smuggled from neighboring countries, others that are uncommon such as heroin and cocaine are currently being found in the country as transborder traders are trying to find way through the country.

Last year alone, according to figures from Police, more than 1,000 kilogrammes of cannabis and 4,000 litres of the illicit brew known as Kanyanga were confiscated countrywide.

"Use and trafficking of drugs top most of the cases we receive at police and most of the cases received such as assaults, killings, rapes, domestic violence are as a result of drug abuse,” said Badege.

He said it was a responsibility of parents, guardians, local leaders to ensure that the youth are not the victims of the drugs adding that the law criminalises whoever fails to fight drugs.

The nationwide campaign will run under the theme "Let’s develop our lives, our communities, our identities without drugs.”

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About the new committee

Dr Yvonne Kayiteshonga, the director of Mental Health Division in Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) and the committee chairperson, said the committee will play the role of advising government on the decisions regarding fight against drug use and illicit trafficking, carry out research related to management of drugs, develop strategies to fight drug use and illicit trafficking.

It will also engage in capacity building for professionals, develop corrective measures against manufacturers, dispensers and users of illicit narcotic drugs and psychotropic and work on prevention activities.

While the way drugs are defined is different from country to another, Kayiteshonga said that they would engage the neighboring countries forming the East African Community (EAC) and harmonise strategies to fight drugs.

"When our officials meet their counterpart members of EAC, they will put this issue on table and come up with some regional strategies to fight drug abuse and illicit trafficking to harmonise those strategies,” Kayiteshonga said.

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