Man handed 50-year jail term for trafficking bhang worth Ksh.201K in Kilifi

A drug dealer has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for trafficking 6.7 kilograms of bhang worth an estimated street value of Ksh.201,300.

The suspect, Kalume Kitsau, was imprisoned after confessing and pleading guilty to trafficking 122 rolls of bhang weighing 6,710 grams before Magistrate Leah Kisabuli.

Kitsau was arrested on March 6, 2024 in Ngoloko area, Kilifi South Sub-County, by officers from Mtwapa Police Station who were alerted of his illegal trade by locals.

"According to Principal Prosecution Counsel Keya Ombele, upon conducting a search; the officers discovered a sack under the bed in which they found dry plant material rolls they suspected to be cannabis," the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP)  said in a statement on Friday.

A subsequent analysis by a government chemist confirmed that the recovered substance was, in fact, bhang.

At the hearing, Kitsao confessed to selling the outlawed drug as a means of providing for his young family.

"Hon. Kisabuli in her ruling stated that the accused had been cautioned on the seriousness of the offence and hefty sentence before admitting the plea of guilty," said the ODPP. 

"Upon conviction, the court found that the law provided for a sentence of 50 years to deter others as narcotic drug sale has ruined lives of many Kenyan youth."