This archive report was first published on 2 September 2019.
On September 2, 2019, Trade and Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya confirmed Bernard Njiraini as the Managing Director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) for a three-year term.
Njiraini was appointed as KEBS acting managing director in May 2019, after serving less than six months as the managing director of the Numerical Machining Complex.
Currently, the authority and the trade CS are under scrutiny from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over the decision to release a Sh10 billion consignment of edible oils into the Kenyan market.
The consignment was impounded in May 2018 by several State agencies, including Kebs, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), DCI and the Anti Counterfeit Authority (ACA).
Local edible oil manufacturers accuse Munya and Kebs of double standards in waiving the fortification requirement as is the norm with locally made products.
“The released edible oil lacks the required fortification, and we have raised the issue of the storage of the oil at the port for a long period of time, which may have compromised its quality,” they said under the aegis of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers in a statement last week.
