Can you bring medication to Kenya?

• Controlled medication

  depends on specifics

  Kenya Revenue Authority's traveler FAQ lists 'Narcotic drugs' among goods prohibited for import outright (citing the 2nd and 3rd Schedule of the East African Community Customs Management Act), while listing 'Medicaments' generally among restricted goods that may be imported once 'authorization by relevant Government Institutions' is obtained. The FAQ does not say which of these two rules governs a specific controlled prescription medicine (e.g. a stimulant, benzodiazepine, or opioid painkiller), does not name the authorizing institution for medicaments, and states no personal-use quantity or day-supply exception.

  This is a genuine, unresolved gap in KRA's public guidance, not a confirmed 'allowed' or 'banned' answer. Kenya's controlling law for scheduled drugs is the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 1994, and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board is Kenya's medicines regulator, but no traveler-facing page from either body could be reached in this pass (pharmacyboardkenya.org returned an expired-certificate error; NACADA's site had no relevant guidance) to confirm whether a foreign prescription is sufficient or a specific permit is required. Anyone carrying an ADHD stimulant, benzodiazepine, or opioid painkiller should contact a Kenyan diplomatic mission or the Pharmacy and Poisons Board before travel rather than assume the ordinary prescription-medication allowance covers it.

  Also covers: controlled substance, narcotic medication

  Checked 2026-09-13 — Source: Kenya Revenue Authority — Passenger Terminal Clearance in Kenya (FAQs)

• Prescription medication

  depends on specifics

  KRA lists "Medicaments" among items restricted for import: they require authorisation/permit from the relevant government institution before Customs will release them. KRA's public guidance does not name the specific licensing body or state a personal-use quantity threshold, so neither is published here — confirm with a Kenyan diplomatic mission before travelling with prescription medication.

  Also covers: medication, prescription medicine, medicine, drugs (prescription)

  Checked 2026-08-11 — Source: Kenya Revenue Authority — Passenger Terminal Clearance in Kenya (FAQs)

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Informational only — not legal advice. Customs rules change; confirm with the official source above before you travel. See update history