A shortage of the local stimulant khat in Somalia caused by ongoing Covid-19 inspired health restrictions is leaving a heavy toll on the country’s army of consumers, APA learnt Thursday.
Khat is a leafy narcotic substance imported into Somalia from neighbouring Kenya and used by Somalis from their teens to their twilight years in a bid to remain alert until the wee hours of the morning.
Just before the coronavirus restrictions, planeloads of the commodity have been flown to Mogadishu on a daily basis to satisfy this national appetite for khat which has an intoxicating value.
Thus khat can no longer be flown Nairobi to Mogadishu where insatiable consumers wait to chew on them in small conversational groups.
Four months on, the resultant shortage from the banning of flights to Somalia to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak is leaving consumers deeply resentful and sometimes restless.
Some consumers are so addicted to khat that the shortage has literally caused them nightmares even during daylight hours.
Other consumers admitted with mental issues at Mogadishu’s main psychiatric centre have lashed out violently at anything within their reach.
Since the shortage, the cost of khat has soared from $20 to $300 per kg, rendering it not readily available to most consumers who are poor.
According to statistics from the Kenya Medical Research Institute khat has at least 10 million consumers distributed across the world including the Somali Diaspora in Europe and the United States.
WN/as/APA