Kenyan Stimulant Traders Call for British Boycott over Ban Order
Kenyan traders of “khat”, a stimulus quite common in East Africa, called for the expulsion of British troops and farmers and a boycott of U.K. products in retaliation to a planned ban on trade of the leaves.
U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May told parliament on July 3 that “khat” will be categorized as a Class C drug, leading to jail terms of as long as two years for possession and 14 years for dealing in it.
Annual sales of “khat”, which is classified as a horticulture product in Kenya, stand at about USD18.3 million, which is expanding at an average of about 10 pct per year.
The declaration by the traders, dubbed “Athiru Gaiti,” demanded that Kenyan businesses stop selling items such as Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc’s sport-utility vehicles and parts manufactured by the Gaydon, England-based company.
It also wants the Kenyan government to evict U.K. farmers with large-scale operations in the country and to close army-training camps used by the British, Kenya’s former colonial power until independence in 1963.
(Bloomberg)
