Nairobi — The High Court has lifted the ban on shisha, ruling that continued enforcement of the prohibition is unlawful and unconstitutional after the government failed to regularise the underlying regulations.

In a judgment delivered Tuesday, Justice Bahati Mwamuye held that the Public Health (Control of Shisha Smoking) Rules, 2017 ceased to have legal effect after the government failed to comply with a 2018 court order requiring the regulations to be regularised within nine months.

The judge ruled that state agencies could no longer rely on the lapsed regulations to enforce the ban, declaring unlawful a February 3, 2025 Ministry of Health press statement and an April 14, 2025 directive ordering a nationwide crackdown on shisha outlets.

Justice Mwamuye further found that the continued enforcement of the expired regulations violated the constitutional rights of members of the Novel Tobacco Products Association, and issued orders restraining the government from enforcing the 2017 rules and the subsequent directives against the association.

The ruling effectively removes the legal basis that authorities had relied on to sustain the ban, pending any fresh lawful regulatory action by the government.