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Cigarettes top list of goods smuggled into Kenya – report

Thursday, June 30th, 2022 09:42 | By
PHOTO/Courtesy

Cigarettes now tops the list of the most smuggled goods across Kenya’s porous borders, according to new findings, with sugar also an ideal product of choice for cartels in the trade.

A new report by the African Uncensored – a think-tank of Continental investigative journalists, says the law enforcement officers are heavily involved in the smuggling of illicit goods, with those bursts highly concentrated at the Kenya –Uganda border, in Busia town, where most trafficked goods are mostly found.

Illegal rings

It also found that such products are highly targeted by illegal rings owing to the fact that the goods are highly profitable and easier to smuggle.

The report fingers high-ranking State officials including politicians and business owners who are said to be the financiers of the illegal trade with the help of other high powerful government officers, sometimes at supervisory agencies.

Reacting to the survey, Stop Crime Kenya (StoCK) Chairman Stephen Mutoro called for a speedy probe into the increasing vice, with statistics showing that illicit trade costs an estimated Sh153 billion a year in lost taxes and robs the state of resources needed for vital services.

“This chilling expose by African Uncensored illustrates how deeply entrenched the menace of illicit trade has become as consumers struggle to cope with the soaring cost of living,” he noted, adding that the vice also funds other criminal enterprises, breeds corruption and finances extremism across the region.

According to John Akoten, deputy director of the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA), trade in counterfeit or smuggled goods is estimated to be around more than Sh800 billion every year.

Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), however, estimates that 40 per cent of manufacturers’ market share is lost every single year to counterfeits or Sh30 billion. 

Smuggling trade at the infamous Busia border and other points has over the years made cigarettes available cheap, thereby increasing consumption.

 - Steve Umidha

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