Health advocates, youth organizations, cancer groups, and tax justice campaigners speaking during a high-level media briefing on an emerging public health issue that is attracting growing national attention and has significant implications for Kenya’s children, youth, and future public health policy at Nairobi Hotel.
By Peace Muthoka
NAIROBI, June 12, 2026 — Health advocates, youth organizations, cancer groups, and tax justice campaigners have intensified calls for the urgent passage of the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, warning that delays could expose more Kenyan children and young people to harmful nicotine addiction.
Speaking in Nairobi on Friday, members of the Kenya Tobacco and Nicotine Tax Coalition (KTNTC) said emerging nicotine products, including vapes and nicotine pouches, are spreading rapidly across the country, often reaching schools and homes before existing laws can effectively regulate them. The coalition warned that tobacco companies are increasingly using attractive flavours, colourful packaging, and sleek designs to market nicotine products in ways that appeal to younger users.
The coalition argued that the proposed law seeks to seal regulatory loopholes that have allowed electronic cigarettes and other nicotine products to thrive in an environment with weak controls. Members further urged Parliament to resist pressure from industry players allegedly seeking to weaken the Bill.
Thomas Lindi of the Kenya Tobacco Control and Health Promotion Alliance (KETCA), which serves as the coalition’s secretariat, cautioned lawmakers against what he described as growing interference from tobacco companies as the Bill undergoes consideration.
“We cannot allow this Bill to be diluted,” Lindi said, adding that health stakeholders had already submitted recommendations during public participation to strengthen its provisions. “We have seen a lot of external pressure from the industry. Parliamentarians should be aware that the tobacco industry will always use different mechanisms to influence policy.”
According to Lindi, the proposed amendments are not only about regulation but also about protecting a generation increasingly vulnerable to addiction.
“This Bill is about protecting children and youth from addiction,” he said. “The question before Parliament is simple: Will we act now to protect the next generation, or will we allow the tobacco and nicotine industry to recruit the next generation of customers?”
Meanwhile, youth campaigners warned that nicotine products are quietly making their way into schools, raising concerns among parents, teachers, and policymakers.
Omondi Eric of Students’ Campaign Against Drugs (SCAD) pointed to the recent case involving a student at Moi High School Kabarak allegedly found in possession of a vape, describing it as a worrying sign of a growing problem.
“This was not a conventional cigarette,” Omondi said. “It was a sleek, discreet nicotine product designed to be easy to conceal, easy to use, and appealing to young people.”
He noted that some vaping devices are intentionally designed to resemble ordinary items such as pens, flash disks, and highlighters, making them difficult to detect in schools and homes.
“If these products have already found their way into our schools, then no school, no community, and no family should assume they are immune,” he added.
At the same time, Omondi expressed concern over reports indicating that children are being introduced to nicotine products at alarmingly young ages.
He cited findings from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), which show that the minimum reported age of initiation into tobacco and nicotine use in Kenya is six years. Additionally, the 2024 Kenya Data on Youth and Tobacco (DaYTA) report indicates that some children begin using smokeless tobacco products as early as five years old.
“When children as young as five years old are being exposed to highly addictive nicotine products, this is no longer simply a tobacco control issue,” Omondi said. “It is a child protection issue, a public health issue, and a national development issue.”
As concern over youth addiction grows, cancer prevention advocates say tobacco and nicotine use continue to place a heavy burden on Kenya’s healthcare system.
Prisca Githuka, Vice-Chairperson of the Kenyan Network of Cancer Organizations (KENCO), accused tobacco companies of disguising addiction through flavoured products and appealing branding designed to attract younger consumers.
“The tobacco and nicotine industry is no longer simply selling products,” Githuka said. “It is selling addiction masked in flavours. It is selling disease and death covered in attractive packaging.”
According to Githuka, products marketed in flavours such as mint and strawberry are often packaged to resemble everyday gadgets, making them attractive and less suspicious to young users.
“These are not accidental design choices,” she said. “They are deliberate strategies intended to attract new users, particularly young people.”
She further warned that tobacco-related illnesses continue to strain the country’s health sector.
“Every year, tobacco kills about 12,000 people in Kenya,” Githuka said, adding that a 2022 study found nearly 46 per cent of patients receiving treatment for chronic illnesses, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and tuberculosis, had a history of tobacco use.
Similarly, Harrison Ndeko, Programmes Officer at NCD Alliance Kenya, dismissed claims that stricter regulation could fuel illicit trade or limit access to so-called harm-reduction products.
Instead, he argued that delays in passing the Bill only benefit tobacco companies while exposing more young people to addiction.
“Every delay benefits the tobacco and nicotine industry,” Ndeko said. “While discussions continue, new and emerging nicotine products continue finding their way into homes, schools, communities, and universities.”
He warned that nicotine is particularly harmful to adolescents because the brain continues developing until around the age of 25.
“Nicotine interferes with parts of the brain responsible for learning, attention, mood, and impulse control,” he said.
Ndeko also questioned claims that electronic cigarettes are primarily designed to help smokers quit, saying available data points to increased uptake among younger non-smokers.
“If e-cigarettes were designed to help smokers quit, why are they deliberately designed to appeal to young people who do not smoke?” he posed.
On her part, Celine Awuor, Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute for Legislative Affairs (IILA), defended the Bill, describing it as a practical and evidence-based response to an emerging public health threat.
“Kenyans deserve protection from addiction,” Awuor said. “Contrary to misinformation, this Bill introduces practical, reasonable, and evidence-based public health measures.”
She explained that the proposed law seeks to regulate electronic cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and other emerging nicotine products under the Tobacco Control Act. It also proposes restrictions on flavours that attract children, child-resistant packaging, limits on nicotine concentration, and a ban on disposable e-cigarettes.
Additionally, the Bill seeks to expand graphic health warnings from 30 per cent to 75 per cent of packaging and restrict the sale of tobacco and nicotine products within 100 metres of facilities serving children.
Awuor said the measures reflect international best practices, noting that more than 120 countries regulate electronic cigarettes while several African countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Seychelles, and The Gambia, have banned them altogether.
“These measures are not extreme,” she said. “They are internationally recognised best practices designed to prevent addiction before it starts.”
The coalition has now called on Parliament to prioritise debate on the Bill and reject attempts to weaken provisions aimed at protecting children and young people from nicotine addiction.
For coalition members, the message to lawmakers was clear: time is running out.
“The health of our children and youth cannot wait,” Lindi said. “Every delay gives the tobacco industry more time to recruit a new generation of users.”
