This archive report was first published on 12 November 2019.
On November 9, 2019, the Anti-Counterfeit Authority of Kenya (ACA) and DCI officers seized fake goods worth over Sh20 million at the Kenya-Tanzania Namanga border town.
The seized goods included counterfeit books, which were copies of local publishers used as textbooks and approved learning materials.
According to the ACA, the fake textbooks bearing names of Kenyan publishers were imports meant for the local market, hurting the local publishing industry.
Abdi Hussein, the Namanga Border Regional Inspector, noted that counterfeit books often have spelling mistakes and missing pages, posing a nightmare to students.
The ACA has accelerated border seizure measures to outsmart cartels and prevent more counterfeit goods from entering the country.
“We have accelerated border seizure and we're going to outsmart these cartels. We will ensure inferior; often dangerous goods do not get into the country. These seizures protect the rights of the intellectual property rights holder, health and safety of Kenyans,” says the ACA.
James Odhiambo, CEO of the Kenya Publishers Association, stated that the seized fake textbooks were set literature textbooks with glaring spelling mistakes and missing pages, which is a problem to students.
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