Shisha is now officially illegal in Kenya

Health Cabinet Secretary Mailu has banned the importation, manufacture, advertising and sale of shisha in Kenya.In a gazette notice, CS Mailu said any person who will contravene any provisions of these rules will be liable to penalty contemplated in section 163 of the Public Health Act.“No person shall import, manufacture, sell, offer for sale, use, advertise, promote, facilitate or encourage shisha smoking in Kenya, “read part of the gazette notice.The highly toxic tobacco substance is smoked using a hookah (water pipe) and gained popularity at entertainment establishments in Kenya over the last year.Shisha-smoking has become popular among young people in Africa as it is considered cool but most smokers are unaware of the dangers.No person shall allow, promote, facilitate or encourage, or do anything to allow, promote, facilitate or encourage shisha smoking in Kenya," the legal notice further states.The move by the Kenyan government to ban shisha comes barely two weeks after Rwanda also banned the popular water-pipe tobacco smoking. Rwanda banned use of shisha following a report by World Health Organization (WHO) that revealed smoke from the water pipe contained toxicants that caused lung cancer and heart diseases.The county government had vowed to snuff out shisha smoking dens citing among its concerns, uncertainty about the quality of the substance being smoked.On December 1, the Tobacco Control Board (TCB) also expressed fear that proceeds from the substance sale could be financing criminal gangs.