Top Ruto (Principal Secretary) PS face arrest
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) planning the arrests of a top Principal Secretary (PS) and two parastatal chiefs over the fake fertiliser scandal
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) planning the arrests of a top Principal Secretary (PS) and two parastatal chiefs over the fake fertiliser scandal.
The PS under the EACC radar, and who hails from President William Ruto’s backyard, is said to have played a critical role in the importation and distribution of the substandard fertiliser.
One of the targeted chief executive officers (CEOs) heads a parastatal in the agriculture sector while the other one leads a strategic agency in the trade industry.
The PS and the two CEOs in question are said to have been directly involved in the importation of the fertiliser which has since been discovered to have been fake, by virtue of the positions they hold and the roles their offices played in the importation of the sub-standard fertiliser.
The three and others also suspected to have had a hand in the importation of the substandard fertiliser might be apprehended as soon as next week since investigations are almost complete.
According to a publication by People Daily, DCI is probing how the fake fertiliser found its way to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores.
“We are aware that there is a Mr Kariuki who was involved in the scandal but we want establish whom he was working with both in the ministry and the two parastatals in question,” said the source.
He continued: “We know there were many people involved and these are the individuals we are zeroing on.”
He said heads will roll starting next week as investigations have revealed the crooks involved in the scandal which has put on the spot ministries under the agriculture and standards dockets.
Last week, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) disclosed that it had impounded thousands of bags of substandard fertiliser.
The DCI said they already have watertight evidence to nail the culprits.
Kebs revealed that it has so far netted 5,840 25kg bags of the substandard fertiliser from various NCPB depots across the country.
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Officials from the standards body told MPs last week that the substandard fertiliser is still in circulation across the country.
The fake fertiliser is going by the name GPC and is distributed by a company known as SBL-innovate Manufacturers Ltd.
Kebs Managing Director Esther Ngari told the lawmakers tests from 59 samples collected from various NCPB had established that the fertiliser in question is substandard and is completely different from the organic fertiliser that the company had initially been certified to distribute.
The fertiliser in question, Ngari said, has high levels of pH, is dolomite in nature as it is composed of calcium, magnesium and carbonate whose purpose is to only act as a soil conditioner as opposed to the organic fertiliser that is suited for Kenyan soil to add nutrients and sustain growth.
“The product being distributed is not certified by Kebs. The product which Kebs initially certified is different from what has been seized from various NCPB depots in the country and condemned as substandard and counterfeit and thus not suitable for sale in the market,” told members of the Agriculture Committee of the National Assembly.
Ngari said she had already written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to allow them to charge the company behind the substandard fertiliser.
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