Details have emerged revealing that one of the companies that imported sugar in bulk from Brazil last year had been blacklisted by Parliament.
This was revealed on Monday at a sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Trade and Agriculture probing the entry of contraband sugar into the country.
In a report bearing recommendations on the sugar crisis in the country, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Eleventh Parliament is noted to have blacklisted Hydery (P) Limited.
The committee is stated to have blacklisted the company and four others after it found out that the Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA) allowed them to import sugar without a permit from the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB).
[caption caption="MPs in the Joint Parliamentary Committees on Agriculture and Trade during a session on July 2,2018 at County Hall"]
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However, appearing before the joint committee, directors of the company denied having been blacklisted adding that they were not aware of the report despite a section of MPs recalling having invited them to discuss the sugar crisis.
Hydery Director Naushad Merali and General Manager Mohamed Kalyan asserted that they got all required clearance from Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), affirming compliance with all the importation requirements.
"Our sugar was inspected by KEBS agents in Brazil and we were given compliance certificate to import the sugar. On reaching the port of Mombasa, our sugar was once again tested by KEBS and found fit for human consumption," Merali mentioned.
The director further divulged that KEBS officials took samples of sugar from his warehouse in Mombasa 10 days ago for testing but were yet to inform him of the results.
Merali's company is claimed to have imported 35,000 metric tonnes of brown sugar from Brazil in July last year, of which 80 percent has so far been sold.
According to MPs, the imported sugar was not processed as required by law, however, KEBS still gave Hydery a go-ahead to release it into the market.
The committee is investigating how unscrupulous individuals took advantage of a Gazette Notice by National Treasury CS Henry Rotich to flood the local market with duty-free sugar.
MPs directed the company officials to appear before them on Tuesday afternoon.
[caption caption=" National Treasury CS Henry Rotich appearing before the Joint Parliamentary Committee"]
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