Paris Lounge supervisor, shisha seller arrested in NACADA raid
Enforcement officers seized 39 shisha bongs, 11 cartons of charcoal, 12 cartons of assorted flavors, and 13 charcoal carriers
Two employees of Paris Lounge located in the Lang’ata area of Nairobi were yesterday evening arrested during a raid by the National Authority for Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) in an intensified crackdown on Shisha dens.
The two were a supervisor of the joint and a Shisha seller.
The Anti-Substance abuse officers led by the NACADA Director of Compliance and Enforcement James Koskei, said the sting operation is part of routine compliance checks targeting illegal shisha trade in Nairobi.
“We were at the Lounge for our normal routine compliance checks; specifically to enforce the shisha rules. We all know that the shisha rules under Gazette Notice No. 292 of 2017 are in force. Our Court of Appeal in December managed to throw away the petition that had been filed against that Gazette Notice,” Koskei explained.
The enforcement officers seized 39 shisha bongs, 11 cartons of charcoal, 12 cartons of assorted flavours, and 13 charcoal carriers.
The raid comes after the appellate court recently ruled that the 2027 Shisha ban by NACADA was unlawful.
The ruling by the Court of appeal was after 48 individuals arrested for selling and smoking Shisha last year January were left Free by the Mombasa Shanzu Law Courts that declared the ban of Shisha unlawful.
In the controversial ruling, Senior Principal Magistrate Joe Mkutu stated that the Cabinet Secretary for Health had failed to comply with a 2018 High Court order to regularize the 2017 ban by submitting it to Parliament for approval.
However, the ministry of Health reiterated that the 2017 ban on shisha remains in full effect.
Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni reminded Kenyans of the prohibition, which was enacted under the Public Health (Control of Shisha Smoking) Rules.
The rules ban the manufacture, importation, sale, and use of shisha in Kenya due to the severe health risks it poses.
“The Ministry of Health wishes to remind all Kenyans that the ban on shisha remains in full effect. This prohibition, enacted in 2017, outlaws the manufacture, importation, sale, and use of shisha in Kenya,” the PS said.
She highlighted that shisha smoking is linked to respiratory diseases, heart conditions, and exposure to toxic chemicals, which led to the initial implementation of the ban.
