Tortured and Starved: Warehouse Owner’s Harrowing Testimony Reveals Police Brutality in Sugar Scandal
A director of the company implicated in the theft of condemned sugar burst into tears and pointed the finger at the tax collector, claiming he knows who stole the sweetener.
Mr. Peter Mwangi, the director of Vinepack Ltd, told MPs that he collapsed on May 3, 2023, when Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials opened the sealed Thika warehouse containing 20,064 bags of 50 kilograms of condemned sugar, only to find the warehouses empty.
The administration of President William Ruto suspended 27 government employees for releasing condemned sugar to the public, which had been declared unfit for human consumption in 2018 and was slated for conversion to industrial ethanol.
The condemned brown sugar was intended to be used as a raw material for industrial ethanol distillation, but it vanished amid fears that it may have ended up on grocery store shelves.
Former Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) Managing Director Bernard Njinu Njiraini and seven other senior government officials have been charged with the theft of 20,000 bags of condemned sugar valued at over Sh20 million.
Joseph Kiago Kaguru, KRA Deputy Commissioner, was also charged with theft, conspiracy to commit an offense, abuse of office, and interfering with goods under customs control.
Mr. Mwangi told the trade and industry committee of the National Assembly that six KRA officials sealed the warehouse before conducting an audit to determine whether the eight conditions for its transport and destruction had been met.
Officers from the KRA’s Intelligence and Strategic Operations (I&SO) unit, led by Mr. Derick Kogo and Mr. Mutuku, were accused of delaying a report that would have given Vinepack permission to open the go-down.
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Two padlocks Mr. Mwangi stated that the KRA seals and the two padlocks were intact when he visited the go-down on 1 May.
But on May 3, a KRA officer named Faith Kihara called him to report to the warehouse where the tax collector was to open the security seals and unlock the padlocks to inspect the contaminated shipment, he said.
“I was drinking tea at the Blue Post hotel when I received a call asking, ‘Are you James Mwangi?'” Mr. Mwangi told an inquiry into the disappearance of the condemned sugar, “I said yes, and she said, ‘I am Faith Kihara; come to the godown so that we can open the seals and padlocks and inspect the sugar.'”
When I arrived at the godown, three Subarus were filled with KRA and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers. He stated that KRA officials asked if he had the keys, but he responded that Asset and Cargo Ltd. and Kiara held one key, and Gilgamesh Ltd. held the other.
Mr. Mwangi stated that the two companies were responsible for transporting the confiscated sugar from Mombasa to Thika.
He reported that the KRA seals were intact when a KRA official requested the keys. “They broke the padlocks and unlocked the empty barrel. I collapsed,” said Mr Mwangi.
Handcuffed
“When I regained consciousness, I was handcuffed and taken to the hospital because they had broken my nerve.” Mr. Mwangi told the investigation team led by Embakasi North MP James Gakuya that he was arrested, transported to Mombasa, beaten, held for 56 hours without food, and then charged 72 hours later. He was released on bail of Sh100,000.
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I urinated on myself. I received a severe beating. Mr. Mwangi stated, “The sugar was under the seal of the KRA, so the KRA should tell us where the sugar is.” Mr. Mwangi told the committee that the sugar, which was transported from Mombasa to Thika in forty containers, was kept under the KRA seal at Kings Commodities Ltd godowns in Thika, which were rented by Vinepack.
According to him, the sugar was in KRA custody because the Customs Act stipulates that a warehouse sealed by the KRA must be treated as a bonded area.
Mr. Mwangi stated that the warehouses of Kings Commodities had six security guards and 24-hour CCTV cameras.
The warehouse’s CCTV cameras and six security guards have since vanished. According to my investigation, the shipment of sugar was stolen between May 29 and May 30. “I wish to testify in private,” he stated before bursting into tears.
Tortured and Starved: Warehouse Owner’s Harrowing Testimony Reveals Police Brutality in Sugar Scandal
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