Large numbers

“Even before we built the facilities in partnership with China, more than $200 million had been channeled to NACADA by China to rehabilitate addicts in our already existing centers,” said Githiri.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, more than 5,200 people die each year in Kenya of drug related conditions such as overdose and liver cirrhosis.

However, figures show that people have turned up in larger numbers to rehabilitation centers than ever before between January last year and the past June. “I can’t give you accurate figures but they are between 15,000 to 20,000 per year. That is how serious the problem is,” Dr. Zachary Mwangi, Director of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, told “Chinese funds are helping a great deal.”

China has also been supplying equipment to the Kenya anti-narcotics police units to pursue drug traffickers, said Jochim Otieno of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Kenya Police Service.

According to records from the Kenya’s National Treasury, China has donated more than $83 million this year to equip the Kenyan police.

These funds are to build forensic labs to identify illegal drugs, and to buy and train sniffer dogs, cars, weapons and radar equipment to monitor criminals at points of entry.

“There are many hotels along the Kenyan coastal areas [and they are the places] where drug addiction is a problem,” she said, adding that the institute has built four rehabilitation centers in Nairobi and Mombasa with the help of the Chinese Embassy.

Her thoughts were echoed by Xu Jing of the institute.

“As a human being, I feel very sad when I see people waste themselves with drugs. So we fund existing centers where they rehabilitate those who cannot afford $300 per month for a duration of three months,” said Xu, adding that his institute has helped 89 people out of addiction since 2013 and secured jobs for them.

According to Xu, after rehabilitation, they are then provided with free vocational training for different jobs such as arts, carpentry and sports. After training, the rehabilitatees are awarded certificates to help them secure employment.

“We even refer them to Chinese companies and institutions for further opportunities,” she said.

The institute also allocated funds to help university students affected by drugs and further collaborate with the Kenyan Government on cost sharing of rehabilitation needs.