Tobacco.org

• Wako says it’s legal to smoke, City Hall warns: you just try 

One year since the Tobacco Act banned advertising of tobacco products, the ministry of Public Health is yet to attain full compliance.

And last month, Attorney-General Amos Wako threw a spanner in the works when he lifted the ban imposed by various towns on smoking in the streets.

Lawyer Muriuki Mugambi, a smoker, was relieved that local authorities would finally revert to the law and allow Kenyans to smoke in the streets.

“All over the world, including developed nations, streets are smoking zones,” Mr Mugambi said.

He said the position adopted by local authorities had made smoking a punishable act, albeit one that is taxed.

The Attorney-General told the minister for Local Government through a letter dated September 19, 2008, that a public place did not include streets.

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