Standard September 16, 2009
By Peter Atsiaya

Tobacco smoking in public will be illegal in Kisumu once a new Government directive is implemented.

Nyanza PC Francis Mutie yesterday directed Kisumu Municipal Council to enforce the Tobacco Control act by banning smoking in public.
“The law is an Act of parliament and the council should implement it without delay,” said Mr. Mutie.
He added that smoking in public was rampant in Kisumu.
“It irritates to note that some drivers of public service vehicle smoke in the matatus with passengers on board and nobody takes action against them,” Mutie pointed out.
The PC made the remarks in a speech read on his deputy Mohammed Bare during the opening of a workshop for public health officers on implementation of the Act.
The Ministry of public health organized a workshop in conjunction with the Institute of legislative Affairs.
Kisumu has been dragging its feet in implementing the anti-smoking rule even as other major urban centers invoked their by-laws to enforce the law.