BY MWINYI SADALLAH
30th December 2012
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As tourists get enticed by sandy beaches lined by turquoise-blue water, the historic charm of Stone Town and the rich culture of the island, so do the drugs traffickers who have taken advantage of the poor security at ports and airport to make Zanzibar their main conduit to both local and global market.
Today the extent of the heroin epidemic is obvious in Zanzibar as the island quickly becoming an emerging player in the heroin trafficking ring.
Two centuries ago Arabs and European traders made their fortunes in Zanzibar by trading in human trafficking historically known as slave trade, the Italian Mafia is taking over the Indian ocean, turning it into a hub of the global drugs trade.
Two centuries ago Arabs and European traders made their fortunes in Zanzibar by trading in human trafficking historically known as slave trade, the Italian Mafia is taking over the Indian ocean, turning it into a hub of the global drugs trade.
As the Independent newspaper once put, “Italian drug barons are exploiting the island's strategic position off the east coast of Africa as a junction for the shipment of heroin from the Far East and cocaine from Latin America. For the Mafia, Zanzibar is not so much a market as the perfect stop-off connecting the producers in the developing world with the consumers in the developed.
But as drugs business spreads across the Island, this week the Roman Catholic church goes public, saying all key drugs dealers in the Isles were well known, and that they were well protected by some top government officials.
Dr Shao said it was time the government showed its political will by fighting drugs, arguing that all the ‘big guns’ who ferried them into the lsles were well known.
He said it was inconceivable that the government in Zanzibar could only arrest drug peddlers and abusers in the streets, leaving free the high-profile drug barons who were well known to the public -- even to the government itself.
He said the rate of drug abuse among young people in the Isles could only go down only if the Zanzibar government takes decisive steps to arrest the importers.
“It is illogical for the Zanzibar government to waste its precious resources chasing drugs abusers and peddlers … these are mere victims of abject poverty,” Dr Shao said.
In recent years, Zanzibar has been facing a losing battle against drugs but most observers say the government could only win this war if it takes deliberate attempts at arresting importers, step up security in tourist hotels, airport and in cargo ships.
Unconfirmed reports state that cargo ships destined for Zanzibar have been temporarily docking a distance from the ports to allow fibre boats to reach them during the night – then take the drugs back to the Isles.
There are also unconfirmed reports that tourists destined for the Island are not thoroughly checked at Zanzibar airports, creating a loophole for them to ferry in drugs.
During Christmas mass in Zanzibar, Dr Shao also implored the general public to assist individual drug addicts) instead of condemning them, arguing that they still had a chance to get back to normal life.
The Roman cleric said there was a huge group of jobless youth in Zanzibar that leads a destitute life, hence prone to getting hooked to drug cartels.
“This problem is getting worse … the government must do whatever it takes to combat it. Let’s not waste time and other precious resources chasing drug peddlers and abusers,” he said.
The bishop also argues that the war against drugs could not be won if the Zanzibar government does not deal with the source – the importers from source countries.
The message relayed by Dr Shao has come amid appalling statistics that show that 20 per cent of all patients admitted at Kidongo Chekundu Hospital in Zanzibar were those with mental illnesses.
The situation isn’t any better on the Mainland either, where the state anti-drugs unit has continued to impound drugs at various entry points across the country.
According to a 2011 annual report on the state of war against drugs presented to reporters in Dodoma on November this year by Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs) William Lukuvi, cases of drug trafficking appeared to be on the increase with the number of drugs abusers going up as well.
Giving statistics, the minister said in 2011 the anti-drugs unit impounded some 264.3kg of heroine involving 20 suspects compared to 185.8kg impounded in 2010 involving 15 suspects.
As for cocaine, some 126kg were seized last year compared to 63kg netted the previous year.
According to Lukuvi, the government plans to table in Parliament a new Bill to enact a new anti-drugs trafficking law to step up the war against the vice.
Lukuvi says the government and other stakeholders had decided to enact a new law after realizing that the current law – the Drugs and Prevention of Illicit Traffick in Drugs Act No. 9 of 1995 – was stern enough given the changing environment and nature of the war.
Citing an example, Lukuvi said the current law gives the presiding magistrate or judge over any case that involves suspects of drugs trafficking to decide the kind of sentence for a convicted person.
“The current law gives discretion to a magistrate or judge to either sentence a convicted person into prison or pay a fine or both. Now, in the new law we want to do away with these choices by clearly stipulating a sentence to the convicted people,’ Lukuvi said.
The minister explained that the Bill had since been drafted and gone through various stages -- including public hearing.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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