Kenya: Court Lifts Shisha Ban in Major Blow to Government Crackdown

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Capital FM report from Nairobi, says Kenya’s High Court has set aside the continued enforcement of the country’s shisha ban, finding that the government no longer had a lawful basis to apply the prohibition. The judgment was delivered Tuesday, July 28, 2026, by Justice Bahati Mwamuye.

According to the report, the court found that the Public Health (Control of Shisha Smoking) Rules, 2017 had lost legal force because the government did not comply with a 2018 court order requiring the rules to be regularised within nine months. On that basis, the judge ruled that state agencies could not continue using the expired rules to justify enforcement action against shisha businesses.

The court also invalidated a February 3, 2025 Ministry of Health press statement and an April 14, 2025 directive that called for a nationwide crackdown on shisha outlets. Justice Mwamuye found that continued enforcement breached the constitutional rights of members of the Novel Tobacco Products Association and issued orders stopping the government from applying the 2017 rules and related directives against the association.

The ruling is significant because it removes, at least for now, the legal foundation authorities had relied on in their campaign against shisha smoking and outlets. The report indicates the government would need to take fresh lawful regulatory steps if it wants to restore restrictions. More broadly, the case highlights how public health controls can be overturned when procedural and constitutional requirements for regulation are not met.