[Intl-tobacco] Kenya: Poised to litigate for compensation from tobacco companies

[robert.weissman@essentialinformation.org]

Bill to Spell Doom for Tobacco Firms

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS
June 3, 2004
Posted to the web June 3, 2004
Nairobi

Cigarette manufacturing companies could face a flood of lawsuits over their
products.

This was after Parliament passed a motion seeking compensation for persons
whose health had been affected by tobacco.

It is now up to the Government to table a Bill that will provide for
litigation aimed at extracting compensation by tobacco "victims."

If effected, tobacco companies could find themselves facing multi-million
shilling suits over all manner of ill health allegations by active and
passive smokers similar to those experienced by Western tobacco companies.

The Tobacco Control Bill appears certain after Health Minister Charity Ngilu
committed the Government to an anti-tobacco legislation.

She said her ministry was in the middle of drafting a Bill which would now
be speeded by the input of yesterday's debate and the Parliamentary Health
Committee.

"Medical research shows a clear link between tobacco and several serious
diseases including cancers. Projections predict that by 2030, cigarettes
will claim 10 million people - more than the combined toll from malaria,
HIV/Aids, TB and road accidents," Ngilu said.

The motion, moved by Kisumu Town East MP Gor Sunguh, received a
near-unanimous support from other members who accused tobacco companies of
hoodwinking the Government and the public over the real gains from their
products.

They questioned the argument that British American Tobacco and Mastermind
companies were, for instance, among the biggest tax payers in the country.

They said research showed that for every shilling to the Exchequer in tax by
the companies, Sh3 was eventually used in medical care for tobacco-related
diseases.

Tobacco was responsible for a myriad of medical and social complications
including abortion, impotence, other drugs abuse, indiscipline in schools
and spiralling crime, they said.

Only Lagdera MP Abdullrahi Sheik Dahir opposed the motion on the basis that
the tobacco companies were among the major tax payers.

But his colleagues claimed that as a distributor of Mastermind Tobacco Ltd,
Dahir was merely protecting personal interests.

Sunguh, who said the Government spent Sh18 million annually to treat
tobacco-related diseases, called for the creation of a reasonable criteria
on the health effects of tobacco products. This would form the basis of any
legal action by victims seeking compensation, he said.

He blamed tobacco companies for exerting undue influence on Third World
companies on the grounds of providing taxes, jobs and earnings to tobacco
growers.

Seconding the Motion, Wajir North MP Dr Abdullahi Ali (Kanu) said it was a
fact that most of the tobacco companies had relocated to developing
countries after their mother countries in the West frustrated their
activities on health grounds.

He called on cigarette manufacturers to be "banned completely" from the
country for enticing school children to smoke through "deceptive and
obscene" advertisements of their products.

"As a result, 20 per cent of primary school pupils are now smokers," he
said.

Minister in the Office of the Vice-President Linah Kilimo and Environment
Assistant Minister Prof Wangari Maathai also blamed "sexy" advertisements
for luring the youth into smoking.

Said Kilimo: "Some say 'Smooth all the way.' Is coughing really smooth? It
is not fashionable when you end up in death. Smoking is actually like
romancing with a killer."