The issue of fake fertilizers has been in the country for some time now and it has really caused a heated debate between the ruling coalition and the opposition. Many people have also been asking President William Ruto to crack his whip and sack the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Mithika Linturi.
Reports have indicated that a total of eight officials of the Kenya Bureau of Standards have been arrested for allowing the sale of the fake fertilizers. It was also revealed that some twenty more officials are also still being investigated concerning the same.
The staff from the Kenya Bureau of Standards who were arrested all come from the Quality Assurance Department. They are the ones who issued certification and mark of quality to two companies that were involved with the fake fertilizers.
The arrests came after more fake fertilizers were impounded in Bungoma county. The police officers nabbed a total of 120 bags of the fertilizers. The bags were being repackaged at a petrol station in the area and they were ready for distribution.
They said that they will first wait for KEBS to investigate it because they were branded the County Government of Bungoma. They also said that if they find that they are fake, then all the officials will have to carry their own cross.
One of the top companies that was involved in the sale of the fake fertilizer known as KEL Chemical Limited and its operations were suspended on Friday and its fertilizer products were withdrawn from the market after KEBS confirmed that they did not meet the required standards.
The DCI detectives are investigating how the company deviated from the approved standards by KEBS and ended up producing fake fertilizers.
