President William Ruto has announced plans to overhaul Kenya’s laws to allow the confiscation of assets used in the illicit alcohol trade and impose harsher penalties on drug traffickers, including the death penalty for those dealing in heroin and cocaine.
Speaking during the engagement ceremony of Sandra Chesergon, daughter of Moiben MP Phylis Bartoo, in Kimumu, Uasin Gishu County on Saturday, Ruto said the government is ready to take tough and far-reaching measures to protect families and children from the devastating effects of drugs, alcohol abuse, and gambling.
The President warned that individuals involved in the sale and transportation of illicit alcohol will face asset forfeiture under the proposed legal reforms.
“All those people who sell illicit alcohol—we are changing the law,” Ruto said. “The assets of these individuals, including the vehicles they use left, right and centre to transport illegal alcohol, will be confiscated. If you are caught transporting illicit alcohol, that vehicle will become government property.”
Ruto said the same tough approach will apply to drug traffickers, whom he accused of destroying the future of the nation’s children.
“Someone who sells cocaine or heroin is destroying our children,” he said. “The seller does not use the drugs himself; his own children do not use them, yet he sells them to other people’s children.”
He told the gathering that existing penalties are no longer sufficient to deter the trade, noting that current laws allow offenders to escape with relatively light fines.
“Under the old law, it was said that such a person would be fined one million shillings,” Ruto said.
“We are now changing this so that such offences attract capital punishment. A person who sells heroin or cocaine will face the death penalty.”
Addressing Members of Parliament, the President signalled that legislation would soon be tabled.
“Members of Parliament, listen carefully and prepare yourselves—we are bringing this law to Parliament. It is not possible to continue like this when so many children have been lost,” he said.
Ruto expressed concern over the scale of substance abuse and gambling addiction in the country, describing it as a national crisis.
“It cannot be that five million people in Kenya are affected—that is far too many. We cannot continue on this path,” he said, adding that consultations are ongoing with the Attorney General, NACADA officials, and regulators, including on stricter gambling regulations.
“I am ready to deal with the consequences,” Ruto said.
“We need to have a country of order. So many families and parents are going through hell because of drugs, cocaine, and alcohol abuse. As a society led by government, we must stand up together and say no to drugs.”
2025 data by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) highlights a growing drug abuse crisis in Kenya, particularly among university students and the young working class.
Nationally, approximately 4.7 million Kenyans aged 15–65—about one in six—use at least one substance, with alcohol leading at 3.2 million users, followed by tobacco at 2.3 million, and khat (miraa/muguka).
The most affected group is youth aged 25–35, with over 1.5 million users.
