By GEOFREY KASERA: Kisumu residents, traders and hospitality-sector players have had their say on the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024, as the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Health wrapped up its public participation hearing in the county, part of a nationwide push to gather input before the Bill’s report is finalised.

Businesses already juggling national and county licensing requirements want clarity, not more red tape.

Stakeholders warned that overlapping licences could drive up compliance costs and administrative burdens without necessarily improving enforcement, pushing instead for a coordinated framework that makes compliance straightforward for legitimate operators.

There was broad support for keeping tobacco and nicotine products out of the hands of underage consumers, with retailers and hospitality outlets flagged as key gatekeepers.

But stakeholders stressed that enforcement needs to be realistic given Kisumu’s role as a regional trade and transit hub on the Lake Victoria basin, where porous cross-border movement already makes policing existing rules difficult.

Livelihoods on the line for small traders

For many kiosk owners, bar operators and small retailers across the county, tobacco and nicotine sales aren’t a side hustle, they’re a meaningful chunk of household income.

Traders cautioned that sudden or poorly timed regulatory shifts could push legitimate trade underground, hurting both household earnings and county tax revenue.

Their ask: weigh the Bill’s economic impact on small businesses alongside its public health goals.

The proposal to restrict flavoured products drew pushback from stakeholders who argued adult consumers should retain access to products they legally prefer.

There’s also a smuggling risk to consider — in a border county with established informal trade routes into Uganda and Tanzania, cutting off legal supply without addressing demand could simply hand the market to illicit operators.

Calls to separate cigarettes from vapes and nicotine pouches

A recurring theme: don’t treat combustible tobacco and emerging nicotine products as the same thing.

Stakeholders argued the two differ in composition, risk profile and use, and lumping them together in licensing and tax rules undermines both regulatory clarity and harm-reduction goals, while penalising retailers who’ve already shifted toward lower-risk alternatives.

The ask was for tiered, evidence-based rules rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

PERAK National Officer Julius Thuo summed up the sector’s position, calling for a framework that balances public health with the realities facing businesses and adult consumers, anchored in clear licensing, strong youth-access safeguards, consumer choice, protection of livelihoods, and differentiated regulation between tobacco and nicotine products.