This archive report was first published on 11 November 2019.
On November 11, 2019, Nairobi News published an exposé titled 'White Alert,' which revealed how millions of Kenyans consumed toxic food products while parliament watched silently.
At the center of the scandal was Dr. Kioko Mang'eli, the former Managing Director of Kebs, who had been trying to stop the release of poisonous maize into the market.
According to a sworn affidavit tabled in Parliament in May 2009, Mang'eli accused the Prime Minister and officials in his office of putting pressure on him to authorize the maize in dispute.
Despite his efforts, the maize was eventually released into the market, and Mang'eli was later replaced as Kebs Managing Director.
Dr. Mang'eli's fight against the poisonous maize was not without its challenges. He had been threatened by powerful personalities for protecting Kenya from Aflatoxin-laced products and had indicated that he was under extreme pressure psychologically.
Former Member of Parliament for Naivasha Constituency, John Mututho, who was chairing the Departmental Committee on Agriculture at the time, claimed to have personally witnessed legislators receiving cash from within parliament premises to quash the Report on Food Security Status and the Maize Shortage in the Country.
MP Jeremiah Kioni alleged that the MPs received as much as Sh18 million per head from powerful lobbyists to just walk out of Parliament when the report was being tabled to kill the motion from the onset.
Dr. Mang'eli would later blame his downfall on the then Prime Minister Raila Odinga, whom he accused of vendetta and tribalism.
Dr. Mang'eli passed away on March 14, 2019, from pressure-related illnesses.
