Khat traders and Mira farmers in Kenya have staged a demonstration protesting against Somalia’s ban on Khat importations amid fears of Covid-19. Somalia’s government imposed ban on Khat imports from Kenya as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. However, Khat is smuggled into Mogadishu and other areas in south Somalia while being ferried by vessels from the coastal province of Lamu, kenya. Khat traders associations, farming community, traders organizations and religious groups in Kenya are lobbying to win the lifting of Khat ban and see the restart of Khat imports to Somalia, and further called on Somalia authority to lift the ban on the drug. The traders have conveyed messages to the Kenyan government and believe that lack of Khat trade, the the town will be ravaged by poverty. The traders have expressed concerns on curfew that the Kenyan government imposed on Eastleigh which is predominantly populated by Somali ethnicity. The Kenyan government imposed the curfew amid fears of Covid-19 pandemic. This is has halted the briskly trade of Khat in Eastleigh. Kenya generated a lot of revenues from Mira Khat imports to Somalia. Somalia’s ban on Khat from Kenya have impacted the lives of many families who counted on Khat trade.
