BONYO'S BONE: Sober up, NACADA!

Tonight, I pick a bone with the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse—NACADA.

And let me say this from the onset: you cannot legislate morality, and you certainly cannot regulate behavior into submission.

The latest raft of proposals by NACADA, framed as an attempt to tackle what they call the “alcohol and drug menace,” are not just misguided, they are draconian, anti-business, and dangerously out of touch with modern governance.

Let’s start with the basics. In Kenya, when you turn 18, you’re legally an adult. You get a national ID, you can vote, marry, run a business, and even join the military. The State recognizes you as a full citizen, responsible for your own decisions.

But somehow, NACADA believes at 18, well you are incapable of deciding whether to drink, what to consume, or how to live your life. That contradiction is not just insulting it’s unconstitutional.

Now let’s come to their proposals which were initially floated as bans before public pressure forced a cosmetic backtrack. But we heard you, NACADA. Loud and clear. And we now know exactly what your real intentions are.

If allowed to pass, these proposals won’t just inconvenience bar owners or creatives—they will cripple Kenya’s alcohol industry and strangle the country’s vibrant creative economy. This is the same industry that provides livelihoods to thousands and contributes billions in taxes annually.

Let me remind NACADA: the same government you work for relies on sin taxes: alcohol, tobacco, gaming to plug its budget holes.

According to the World Bank, Kenya can rake in over Ksh.90 billion every year from properly implemented excise taxes on these sectors.

Instead of rushing to punish, ban, and restrict, NACADA should go back to the basics—something it has either forgotten or completely abandoned.

If the goal is to reduce harmful alcohol and drug use, then Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is the proven path forward.

SBCC isn’t guesswork. It’s science. It is interactive, research-driven, and community-led. It uses advocacy, social mobilization, and strategic messaging to shift both mindset and behaviour.

This is what works. Not threats. Not panic. Not paternalism.
And NACADA knows this. It’s in your own mandate. So why not follow it?

Because make no mistake—the path you’ve chosen will lead to loss of jobs, closure of businesses, a battered entertainment industry, and an inevitable return to illicit brews and hard drugs as desperate youth look for an escape from economic despair.

You don’t fight drug abuse by waging war on livelihoods. You fight it by building awareness, trust, and responsibility, together with the very people you now treat like enemies.

Let’s be clear: these proposals must remain just that: proposals. NACADA's job is to control, not to crush. Not to kill industries. Not to censor culture. Not to choke opportunity.

Kenya needs balance, not blind regulation. We need smart interventions, not sweeping bans. And above all, we need NACADA to think, not just react.