Compliance With the Tobacco Control Act, 2007 in Kenya:the Role of the Tobacco Control Board

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the role played by the Tobacco Control Board in ensuring compliance to the Tobacco Control Act, 2007, in terms of creating awareness, ensuring enforcement and involvement of stake holders. The study found out that there is no significant relation between awareness and compliance. However descriptive statistics indicate that 87.7% of the respondents felt that the Tobacco Control Board had not created sufficient awareness. The results also indicated that the relationship between enforcement and compliance was statistically significant. Lack of proper administrative structure was hampering enforcement. The poor coordination mechanism and the low commitment by the government have contributed to the low level of enforcement currently being experienced in Kenya. It was also found out that there was a relationship between stakeholder involvement and compliance. That 51.1% respondents rated stakeholders' involvement by the TCB to be poor, was affecting the level of compliance to the TCA, 2007 quite significantly. TCB has not been able achieve the desired compliance levels as a result of low stake holder involvement. This is a descriptive study that applied the use of purposive sampling technique that allowed the researcher to sample persons with information that seeks to address the study objectives. The study had 45 respondents drawn from enforcement agencies, civil society, tobacco farmers, university and research institutions, Tobacco Control Board and members of the public; who are all stakeholders in tobacco control. The study data was collected through questionnaires and selected in-depth interviews. The data analysis was done using both quantitative and qualitative data analysis technique