PSs face arrests as sleuths unravel fake fertiliser mix
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is planning the arrests of a top Principal Secretary and two parastatal chiefs over the fake fertiliser scandal.
The PS under the EACC radar, and who hails from President William Ruto’s backyard, is said to have played a critical role in the importation and distribution of the sub standard fertiliser.
One of the targeted chief executive officers (CEOs) heads a parastatal in the agriculture sector while the other one leads a strategic agency in the trade industry.
The PS and the two CEOs in question are said to have been directly involved in the importation of the fertiliser which has since been discovered to have been fake, by virtue of the positions they hold and the roles their offices played in the importation of the sub-standard fertiliser.
The three and others also suspected to have had a hand in the importation of the substandard fertiliser might be apprehended as soon as next week since investigations are almost complete.
A highly placed source at the DCI told People Daily they were in particular probing how the fake fertiliser found its way to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores.
“We are aware that there is a Mr Kariuki who was involved in the scandal but we want establish whom he was working with both in the ministry and the two parastatals in question,” said the source.
He continued: “We know there were many people involved and these are the individuals we are zeroing on.”
He said heads will roll starting next week as investigations have revealed the crooks involved in the scandal which has put on the spot ministries under the agriculture and standards dockets.
Last week, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) disclosed that it had impounded thousands of bags of substandard fertiliser.
The discovery has since sent shockwaves among farmers who are preparing for the planting season. The DCI said they already have watertight evidence to nail the culprits.
Kebs revealed that it has so far netted 5,840 25kg bags of the substandard fertiliser from various NCPB depots across the country.
Officials from the standards body told MPs last week that the substandard fertiliser is still in circulation across the country.
The fake fertiliser is going by the name GPC and is distributed by a company known as SBL-innovate Manufacturers Ltd.
Substandard fertiliser
Kebs Managing Director Esther Ngari told the lawmakers tests from 59 samples collected from various NCPB had established that the fertiliser in question is substandard and is completely different from organic fertiliser that the company had initially been certified to distribute.
The fertiliser in question, Ngari said, has high levels of pH, is dolomite in nature as it is composed of calcium, magnesium and carbonate whose purpose is to only act as a soil conditioner as opposed to the organic fertiliser that is suited for Kenyan soil to add nutrients and sustain growth.
“The product being distributed is not certified by Kebs. The product which Kebs initially certified is different from what has been seized from various NCPB depots in the country and condemned as substandard and counterfeit and thus not suitable for sale in the market,” told members of the Agriculture Committee of the National Assembly.
Ngari said she had already written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to allow them to charge the company behind the substandard fertiliser.
She added that the company had displayed the Kebs mark of quality on a product that had not undergone the mandatory certification process as stipulated by Standards Act and governed by the applicable standard.
SBL-innovate Manufacturers Limited had been allowed to bring into the country fertiliser known as BL-GPC original but went ahead and brought in GPC plus Organics Fertiliser using the same standardisation mark yet it had not been certified by Kebs.
She said: “Through routine market surveillance activities and public complaints, KEBS recently identified a potential breach of the certification contract by SBL-Innovate Manufacturers Limited. This act undermines consumer trust and could potentially harm agricultural productivity.”
She added: “From our side we have already written to the DPP so that we prosecute those involved as per the standards act.”
Asked why it took long for Kebs to carry out the tests after the committee heard that the entity granted SBL-Innovate Manufacturers Ltd a standardisation Mark to bring into the country fertiliser on January 28 last year, Ngari explained that NCPB had denied them entry into their stores.
Samples rejected
She explained that Kebs’ first attempt to collect the samples from NCPB stores was rejected and it was only allowed to do so after writing several letters whose response was only received on January 31.
She said: “This fertiliser was being distributed from NCPB outlets only, we went there on January 17, 2024 and were not allowed to pick the samples. NCPB told us to write a letter which we did on January 19 and got a response on January 31 and that is when we went in on February 5 to do the sampling.”
Ngari who disclosed that they have already written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to allow them to charge the company behind the substandard fertiliser regretted that despite them only allowing organic fertiliser brand Bl-GPC original to be brought in to the country after fulfilling various condition, SBL innovate Manufacturers Limited engaged in misuse of the standardisation mark as it went ahead and brought into the country a product that was not certified by Kebs.
She added that the company had displayed the Kebs mark of quality on a product that had not undergone the mandatory certification process as stipulated by Standards Act and governed by the applicable standard.
SBL-innovate Manufacturers Limited had been allowed to bring into the country fertiliser known as BL-GPC original but went ahead and brought in GPC plus Organics Fertiliser using the same standardisation mark yet it had not been certified by Kebs.
“Through routine market surveillance activities and public complaints, Kebs recently identified a potential breach of the certification contract by SBL-Innovate Manufacturers Ltd. This act undermines consumer trust and could potentially harm agricultural productivity,” she said: “From our side we have already written to the DPP so that we prosecute those involved as per the standards act.”
