This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers and police have been cracking down on sugar smuggling in Busia, intercepting trucks loaded with cane from Uganda at the Busia Customs office.
According to County Commissioner Jacob Narengo, the truck drivers will be charged with smuggling and using ungazetted routes.
“Factories that want raw materials from Uganda must follow the due process by getting an approval from the relevant agencies,” Narengo said.
Busia Sugar Industry has denied the allegations, stating that it crushes raw material from locally contracted farmers, some of whom have farms on the border between Kenya and Uganda.
However, Kenya Association of Sugarcane and Allied Product national general secretary Peter Odima and Busia Outgrowers Company director Lambert Ogochi have accused sugar factories of illegally importing raw material from across the border.
