John Allan Namu Explains How He Exposed Fake Government Fertilizer Scandal
Experienced investigative reporter John Allan Namu has provided detailed insights into the origin of his latest documentary, “Fertile Deception,” which uncovered the extensive distribution of fake government fertilizers throughout the nation.
During an appearance on Citizen TV’s Newsgang Show on Thursday, Namu disclosed that his team at African Uncensored initiated the project in November 2022 upon learning about the story from a source. This source connected him with an individual engaged in the counterfeit trade.
“This investigation began in late October….early November 2022. I got a leak from a source who led me to someone who had been transporting the fake product across the country. What he saw shocked him because in as much as he was being paid, he saw exactly where this fertilizer was coming from and it was going as far as Uasin Ngishu and Kitui Counties and other parts of the country,” he said.
Motivated to uncover the truth, Namu rallied his team to capture footage of the evidence that would profoundly impact the nation in March 2024.
“So once we heard this story we thought this is incredible. I mean how could this have happened without there being intelligence agencies who were abreast of the issue? So my team members went and filmed and when I saw the footage I was in disbelief!” he said.
In the subsequent phase of the inquiry, Namu and his team gathered samples of the fake fertilizer from various National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) facilities nationwide. The exact makeup of the counterfeit items could only be determined through forensic testing.
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“We spent the better part of 2023 collecting samples from at least three to four other parts of the country from NCPB stores and we took them to two separate laboratories, one at Egerton University and the other at a private laboratory just to verify whether the result we were seeing was the same and those results came out the same,” he said.
Namu mentioned that the findings were corroborated by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) shortly before the airing of the explosive documentary.
“KEBS, whom we had given a right to response to questions in January, came out two days before the documentary ran and they said that they had conducted their tests on 59 samples and they tallied with what we had found. So there is a body of scientific evidence that speaks to that particular fertilizer,” Namu said.
He further stated that the documentary revealed a significant counterfeit scheme and incited anger among farmers, prompting them to verify the genuineness of their fertilizer stocks.
“This speaks of a much deeper, long-running issue with counterfeits and fake products being pushed onto the public either at the expense of the government or with some government agencies and figures taking part in this whole thing at the farmers’ loss,” he said.
“You know what it means when someone loses a harvest. This is why I think there has been so much anger about this issue because every right-thinking Kenyan appreciates just how deep and menacing this issue can be and what it means to every family that puts food on its table.”
John Allan Namu Explains How He Exposed Fake Government Fertilizer Scandal
