MPs Halt Toxic Sugar Destruction
The Departmental Committee on Trade of the National Assembly has halted the scheduled annihilation of condemned sugar on Friday, July 21.
The decision was reached after a committee meeting chaired by Hon. James Gakuya (Embakasi North) on Thursday, July 20, at which the head of the agency responsible for the annihilation of 49 containers of illicit sugar explained that the process was imminent.
MPs also demanded clarification on reports alleging that, despite the entire shipment being declared unfit for human consumption, some bags were unlawfully distributed to the public.
While directing the agency to delay the destruction, committee members expressed grave concerns regarding the agency’s suitability to supervise the process.
MPs argued that the agency was involved in the ongoing investigation into the discharge of forty containers of illegal sugar onto the Kenyan market.
“This Committee is committed to examining this issue thoroughly to ensure the safety and protection of Kenyan citizens and to ensure that none of the remaining sugar is smuggled back onto the market,” stated the committee chair.
In 2018, sugar from Zimbabwe arrived in Kenya and was stored in a facility in Thika pending its release.
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At least 63 percent of the 1,300,000 duty-free sugar bags imported were deemed unsuitable for human consumption, compelling former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration to order their destruction.
A multi-agency unit consisting of KEBS and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) was to supervise the ethanol conversion.
Concerns were raised in April 2023, when the condemned sugar vanished from the warehouse in Thika.
A month later, in May 2023, President William Ruto suspended the managing director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards, Bernard Njiraini, along with other agency heads accused of unleashing the sugar.
“Given the unique mission of the agencies as guardians of public health and safety, it is evident that some officers in the relevant agencies abdicated their responsibilities, putting the public at risk of injury.
“Consequently, it is noted that the Cabinet Secretaries for National Treasury and Economic Planning, and Investments, Trade, and Industry, have sanctioned administrative action to suspend the officers pending investigations,” Ruto’s Chief of Staff at the time, Felix Koskei, said in a statement.
MPs Halt Toxic Sugar Destruction
