Is Khat legal in Kenya?

Also known as: qat, miraa, quaadka

Legal status

Controlled in part under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, Cap. 245: both of khat's characteristic alkaloids are named, CATHINONE in the first table and CATHINE in the second, and section 2 defines a psychotropic substance as any substance specified in the Second Schedule or anything that contains any substance specified in that Schedule, while the plant Catha edulis is not named in any of the four schedules and the Third Schedule list of prohibited plants runs to cannabis, coca bush, Papaver somniferum and Papaver setigerum only, and miraa is at the same time grown and traded in Kenya as a scheduled crop under separate agricultural legislation that was not read for this cell, so the two regimes point in opposite directions and this cell does not resolve them, as at 31 December 2022.

Consequences if caught

The nearest text read is the entry "CATHINONE" in the Second Schedule list of psychotropic substances, and this row is a class or a mixture rather than a single scheduled name. Both of khat's characteristic alkaloids are named, CATHINONE in the first table and CATHINE in the second, and section 2 defines a psychotropic substance as any substance specified in the Second Schedule or anything that contains any substance specified in that Schedule, while the plant Catha edulis is not named in any of the four schedules and the Third Schedule list of prohibited plants runs to cannabis, coca bush, Papaver somniferum and Papaver setigerum only, and miraa is at the same time grown and traded in Kenya as a scheduled crop under separate agricultural legislation that was not read for this cell, so the two regimes point in opposite directions and this cell does not resolve them. Section 3(2)(b) sets imprisonment of not less than 5 years for possession of a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance other than cannabis, and section 4, which reaches trafficking and possession alike, sets a term of 30 years on its lower band and of 50 years on its upper one. The quantity bands are possession of less than 1 gram under section 3(2)(b), between 1 and 100 grams under section 4(a)(i), and more than 100 grams under section 4(a)(ii). The fines are not less than 5,000,000 shillings under section 3(2)(b), not less than 30,000,000 shillings under section 4(a)(i), and not less than 50,000,000 shillings or three times the market value, whichever is greater, under section 4(a)(ii), each expressed as an alternative to imprisonment or in addition to it. Cap. 245 carries no death penalty, and imprisonment for life appears only at section 4(b)(i), for precursor chemicals and for substances held out to be narcotic or psychotropic, and at section 4B(5), for conspiracy. Those figures are carried across every Kenyan row because Cap. 245 sets them country wide rather than substance by substance, and here they describe the offences that this row's placement brings into play.

If prescribed or medical

Section 3(3) takes possession outside the offence where the substance is held under a licence issued pursuant to section 16, or by a medical practitioner, dentist, veterinary surgeon or registered pharmacist for medical purposes, or for medical purposes from or pursuant to a prescription of a medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon, or by a person authorised under the regulations. Section 2 defines each of those practitioners by registration in Kenya, a medical practitioner and a dentist under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act (Cap. 253), a registered pharmacist under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 244) and a veterinary surgeon under the Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Para-Professionals Act (Cap. 366), so the exemption as written does not on its face name a prescription written abroad. Carry the prescription and the dispensing label, and put the question to a Kenyan mission before you travel rather than after you land.

Documentation

The placement was decided by reading the matched entry. The Second Schedule list of psychotropic substances of Cap. 245 prints "CATHINONE", and this row is a mixture or a class rather than a single scheduled name, so the cell says which part is named and which is not. Cap. 245 is the controlling instrument. It carries four schedules, the First for narcotic drugs, the Second for psychotropic substances, the Third for prohibited plants and the Fourth for precursor chemicals, and none of the four uses entry numbers, so no numbered placement is asserted anywhere in this batch. The text read incorporates the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2022 (No. 4 of 2022), assented on 24 February 2022 and commenced on 21 March 2022, which replaced the whole of section 3(2), replaced section 4 outright, inserted sections 4A and 4B, inserted the word tramadol in the First Schedule, inserted the word ketamine in the Second Schedule and added the Fourth Schedule, and which carries no transitional or savings provision. This is stated as at the Kenya Law revised edition of Cap. 245, being the text as at 31 December 2022 as revised by the 24th Annual Supplement (Legal Notice 221 of 2023), read on 22 September 2026, which the publisher marks as the latest version of the Act. Section 87 lets the Cabinet Secretary by order add a substance or plant to the First, Second or Third Schedule or delete one from it, and no order made after 31 December 2022 was found by the routes tried, which does not rule out a later one. Two instruments point in opposite directions on this row and this cell does not resolve them. Cap. 245 names both alkaloids, while miraa is grown and traded in Kenya as a scheduled crop under separate agricultural legislation, which was not read for this cell and is not cited here. A Senate bill to delist cathinone and cathine was still before Parliament and contested in May 2026, which is itself evidence that neither has been delisted. The live cell this replaces asserted that the 2022 amendment exempts cathinone and cathine when contained in khat, and no such exemption appears anywhere in the text read.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Kenya’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.