This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
Counterfeit Goods Flood Kenyan Market ¶
Kenya's ports have become key entry points for substandard products, with the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Wilson Airport, the port of Mombasa, Shimoni, and Lunga Lunga being used to let in several black market products.
Unscrupulous traders are colluding with government officials to import substandard consumer goods into Kenya, where they are re-packaged as popular brands and released into the market.
Some samples of cooking oil impounded by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have been found to have chemicals that cause heart complications and kidney disease.
According to analysis reports, the impounded cooking oil did not have Vitamin A, but had excessive levels of iron, which is a requirement under the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act for all cooking fat and edible oils sold in the country.
Correspondence between the DCI and the Health ministry in July last year revealed that sugar samples from suspected fake packets bearing the brand names of Butali, Sony, and Hoima (Uganda) sugar mills were unfit for human consumption.
The samples had higher concentrations of bacteria, yeast, and mould spores than the accepted levels, and would have caused nausea and vomiting if consumed.
DCI investigations have revealed that each ship that brings in sugar nets a profit of up to Sh5 billion after the sweetener is sold to the local market.
As of this year, the DCI has investigated 119 cases of counterfeit goods, with 67 being completed and the goods being destroyed, and some individuals being convicted.
DCI boss George Kinoti revealed to a National Assembly committee that this year alone his office has investigated cases involving counterfeit goods worth Sh646 million in 27 counties.
