Sh163 million condemned sugar turns bitter for top Kebs officials

 The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) Managing Director Bernard Njiraini was among top officials who were on Tuesday questioned over the sale of condemned sugar worth over Sh163 million.

Njiraini, and other senior managers, were grilled by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) following reports that the sugar was released to a trader who repackaged and sold it.

Director of DCI Mohamed Amin yesterday said the officials were released on police bond pending further investigations and action.

“The probe is ongoing for us to get to the bottom of this matter,” he said.

Ethanol option

The investigation seeks to establish why the Kebs officials changed their earlier stand on the cargo to allow it in the market.

They had earlier stated the cargo would be destroyed by burning or burying in an exercise that would be supervised by experts.

However, they later changed their position and stated it would be turned into ethanol at the Kenya Wines Agency and Agro-Chemical and Food Company Ltd (ACFC).

There is a Kenya Gazette notice that elaborates how such a product should be released to the agencies for conversion. However, the agencies mandated to handle the sugar did not follow the procedures. As a result, no taxes were paid to the government.

Those arrested and grilled said they were ordered to release the sugar and have it transported to Thika via SGR where it was to be turned into ethanol for other uses. This followed an opinion from the office of the Attorney General.

After Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) got a request from Kebs to have the cargo turned into ethanol, the taxman wrote to the AG seeking his opinion. The AG explained the steps to be followed to convert the cargo into ethanol,  instructions which were apparently not followed.

Also grilled were KRA employees who claimed the security seals to the containers carrying the cargo were removed without their consent.

At least eight suspects who had been arrested over the sale of the sugar were released on police bond.

The suspects included businessmen and a senior KRA deputy commissioner.