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Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) has identified Nakuru county as a melting point of book piracy in Kenya. LPA says the vice is denying publishers up to 40 per cent of the market share.

Chairperson Kiarie Kamau said school textbooks are the biggest target as they make up to 90 per cent of Kenya’s book market and their sales are virtually guaranteed.

He regretted that in many cases, pirated books are sold at the same price as the original versions, as few buyers can spot a fake, adding that counterfeited books not only cause publishers to incur heavy losses but also compromise the quality of education and deal firmly with perpetrators.

Vast investment Kamau said some of the pirated books contain errors that occur during scanning of the original copies thereby misleading learners.

Some of the books have contents crammed from old editions which are encased in covers of current editions, he warned.

“The books also have poor binding and print quality. The text is illegible and unfriendly to the learners. The growing menace has led to the loss of employment for most professionals in the book publishing industry,” he said.

Speaking in Nakuru during the launch of Kenya Literature Bureau’s Grade 4, 5 and 6 Competency-Based Curriculum Encyclopedia he said illegal books flooding most parts of the country were creating a string of losses in the book supply chain.

The event was graced by Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) Chief Executive Dr Victor Lomaria and Rift Valley Regional Director of Education, Jared Obiero.

Lomaria noted beside disrupting the publishing industry, piracy was also hurting Kenya’s knowledge base. “Piracy discourages authors who want to make a contribution to society through writing books as their knowledge is lost to the rest of us.

“At KLB, we are coming up with security features which are embedded in the book seal,” he said.