South Sudanese are the leading Miraa (KHAT) Chewers in Kakuma Refugee Camp.

Kakuma Refugee Miraa chewers initially are people from the Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya origins but recently South Sudanese Miraa chewers have overtaken both Somalia and Ethiopia to become the number one Miraa Chewers in the camp.

According to one of our correspondent who has been in the camp for more than (15) fifteen years he said that “The number started increasing from the year 2010 and now in the year 2019 the number is too high.” By 2 PM that is exactly the time, Miraa (KHAT) is brought to the camp via Lodwar.

South Sudanese Children will be seen around 1PM loitering Somalia or Ethiopian Market waiting for Miraa. This has in fact affected their afternoon classes instead of going for the afternoon classes they will be seen waiting for Miraa anxiously.

Miraa also known as Khat is a stimulant drug, which can cause loss of appetite and euphoria. Miraa contains Alkaloid and Cathinone. According to the study, it is still unclear if the consumption of Miraa can directly affect the mental health of a user.

The chewing of Miraa among the South Sudanese has led to a lot of theft cases in the community since the chewers had to steal in order to buy the Miraa. Miraa is expensive, one surba is around 350ksh.

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers that Miraa addiction to be not seriously problematic. In other countries, it is not allowed like Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In Yemen, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya are the major consumers of Miraa.