Contraband Cigarettes In Kenya

Authorities are sounding alarm over increased sale of counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes in Kenya. Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Agency says cigarettes are rapidly becoming the most illegally traded product in the region, while health experts warn a health crisis could be looming. “Cigarettes themselves are dangerous but the counterfeit ones are more dangerous,” says Vincent Kimosop, executive director of International Institute for Legislative Affairs, who actively fight growth of the contraband in Kenya. The illegal trade is riding on the back of easily available Kenya Revenue Authority revenue stamps for cigarettes and wines, normally called “straps”, according to traders who have dabbled in this business. "The business is booming and they are easily available here,” says Harrison Mwinzi, a trader in Nairobi’s Mlolongo estate. The ‘straps’ are normally affixed on cigarettes packets and wines to confirm tax has been paid on them. Mlolongo, a crowded shanty town on Mombasa Road near a popular police weigh-bridge, is turning into an important center for counterfeit cigarettes and alcohol, draining the two industries cumulatively of Sh9 billion every year. The bustling township is characterized by more bars and wine shops than any other business. Mwinzi, a bar owner, says this is not without reason. He admits that he occasionally buys ‘straps’ to use on cigarettes he believes are smuggled from Uganda or “manufactured somewhere” in Nairobi. “You make a lot of money by selling cigarettes without paying any tax,” says the 29-year-old. The Anti-Counterfeit Agency confirms the practice is rampant. Authorities and the civil society further say the illegal trade defeats the spirit of the Tobacco Control Act. This act was crafted to limit tobacco intake in Kenya to curtail growing threat of cancer and other non-communicable diseases. “Many people are already smoking their way to death faster and something should be done to stop this trade,” says Kimosop. The organization helped draft the tobacco Act, which they now feel is under threat. Counterfeit cigarettes are usually substandard while smuggled ones may include the standard cigarettes being sold through tax evasion. Many counterfeits have been found to have poisonous chemicals inside them. ACA says cigarettes are the most traded illegal commodity along the porous borders around Kenya. “Smugglers prefer first moving goods which are sold fast without much hassle of looking for market,” says ACA assistant director Abdikadir Mohamed. Cigarettes are attractive because duty is levied on every stick, and one can make millions of shillings from a relatively small quantity, he says.