Nairobi, KENYA: A man has been charged before a Nairobi court with engaging in unnatural act with a hen. Gido Kibukosya denied the charge when he appeared before Resident Magistrate John Agenga The charge stated that on July 18 he engaged in unnatural act with a hen. The prosecution told the court that the hen died and a report from the veterinary department was not ready. Kibukosya was released on a Sh 100,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount. The case will be heard on August 20.

To briefly discuss those whose financial interests are impinged upon by the UK khat ban, a number of Meru senators and MP's have been making preposterous claims that it is politically motivated due to Meru's support for the candidacy of the current President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta. The local khat dealers there have also voiced the opinion that boycotting British companies would be a suitable response to the khat ban. Others believe that a more cerebral approach would be to send a delegation to Britain to vehemently lobby the relevant parliamentary committee in order to reverse the proposed ban also challenging the ban through the law courts, in effect asking the UK government to allow them to continue supplying drugs to vulnerable UK immigrant communities for financial gain. We welcome the opportunity to meet with our Kenyan counterparts in court. This is for the simple reason that their recourse to the law is a tacit admission of responsibility for the harmful effects of the khat trade wrought on our community, which will allow us to submit a counter claim for damages. Moreover, one of the more surreal episodes in the Meru reaction has been the claim by the head of the Global Miraa (khat) Traders network that khat is religiously endorsed by the Bible, further going to say that the baby Jesus (pbuh) and the Virgin Mary were visited by three wise men who brought them gold, frankincense and, not myrrh but miraa. All of these responses demonstrate the desperation and lengths people will go to maintain the status quo.