A march in Nigeria calling for stronger tobacco control laws. Kenya is not acting alone. Other countries have gazetted their Tobacco and Nicotine Control Regulations, bringing tobacco and nicotine products under a single regime.
This week, the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Health took the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to Kenyans. Sponsored by Senator Catherine Mumma and already passed by the Senate, the Bill would finally bring e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and other emerging nicotine products under clear regulation. It proposes raising the minimum purchasing age to 21, banning non-tobacco flavours, requiring plain packaging with prominent health warnings, and restricting digital advertising, including promotion by social media influencers.
Two arguments dominated the opposition. The first is that stronger rules will fuel illicit trade. The second is that non-combustible nicotine products are “safer alternatives” that should be welcomed into the Kenyan market. Both deserve a direct answer, and Kenya’s own record provides it.
Illicit trade is an enforcement question
The warning that regulation breeds smuggling is as old as tobacco control itself. It was raised against tax increases, against graphic health warnings and against the 2014 Tobacco Control Regulations. Each time, the answer has been the same: illicit trade is driven by weak enforcement, not by strong public health law.
The WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products sets out what countries must do to secure the supply chain. Parties must license those who manufacture and import tobacco products, conduct due diligence on their business partners, keep records along the supply chain, and put in place tracking and tracing systems.
Kenya did not wait for the Protocol to act. Licensing of manufacturers and importers, excise stamps and the Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS) were in law and in operation years before Kenya ratified the Protocol in May 2020. Having led the EGMS rollout and been involved in the ratification process, I have seen these tools work. Over the years, delegations from more than 40 countries came to Nairobi to learn how Kenya did it, and many still come when they reach the tender or implementation stage.
If we keep applying these administrative measures, and extend them to newer nicotine products wherever gaps remain, this Bill will not create an illicit market. What it will do is close the regulatory vacuum that has allowed nicotine pouches and vapes to spread among young Kenyans with little oversight.
Non-combustible does not mean safe
During the hearings, the Committee heard by video link from an academic who argued that e-cigarettes, snus and nicotine pouches should be allowed onto the Kenyan market. To their credit, Members did not let the claim pass unchallenged. Committee Chair Dr James Nyikal asked whether addiction differs between users of combustible and non-combustible products. Members observed that what was being described was nicotine substitution, not nicotine replacement. Hon. Duncan Mathenge asked the question that matters most: does “non-combustible” equal “safe”?
It does not. Nicotine is highly addictive and harmful to the developing brains of adolescents. Offering one addictive product as the cure for another will not advance tobacco control. It risks creating a new generation of nicotine users, hooked through flavours, sleek devices and influencer marketing designed to appeal to them.
Article 5.3 applies to third parties too
Kenya is a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Article 5.3 obliges us to protect public health policy from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry. Its guidelines recognise that these interests are often advanced not by manufacturers directly but through third parties: front groups, consultants, researchers and experts.
Public participation is a constitutional right, and every voice deserves a hearing. But Kenyans are also entitled to know who is speaking and on whose behalf. The Committee should require every person making representations on this Bill, local or foreign, to declare any funding, affiliation or benefit from the tobacco or nicotine industry, and record those declarations in its report. Kenya’s 2014 Tobacco Control Regulations already give effect to Article 5.3. Our legislative process should live up to them.
Our neighbours are moving
Kenya is not acting alone. On 27 August 2026, Sierra Leone gazetted its Tobacco and Nicotine Control Regulations, bringing tobacco and nicotine products under a single regime. The Regulations extend smoke-free protections to aerosol from both nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems. They also place the duty to verify a buyer’s age on the seller and prohibit vending machines and other unsupervised sales. Kenya’s Bill should match that clarity, particularly on online sales and age verification.
Kenya should lead again
Kenya’s excise controls became a regional and global reference point because we acted early and implemented well. This Bill is a chance to do the same for the new generation of nicotine products. Passing it will protect the lives of our children and young people, and it will once again set Kenya apart as a country others benchmark for best practice.
I urge Members of the National Assembly to pass the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024 without delay.
CPA Karambu Muthaura is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Foresight Advisory Africa and sits on the UN Subcommittee on Health Taxes. [email protected]