Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Friday, May 19, arrested an Eastleigh-based businessman in an operation aimed at recovering condemned sugar that was released.
The businessman was arrested in the early morning hours of May 19 while running errands at the Central Business District (CBD).
Upon inquiry by detectives over his possession of the condemned sugar - that originated from Zimbabwe, the man led the officers to his shop in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate.
During the operation, police recovered 14 bags of sugar even as they continued with their operation to search for the remaining bags.
The detectives believe that the sugar was being repackaged at the Eastleigh entity before being distributed to other parts of the county.
However, it was not established whether the man had more bags of sugar than those recovered from the business outlet.
On the other hand, other inside sources at the investigative agency also expressed fears that the sugar may have circulated countrywide.
According to the police, all the 20,000 bags of sugar condemned by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) in 2018 were missing.
The consignments are reported to have mysteriously disappeared at the premises of a company in Thika between March 20 and May 4. The company was to turn the sugar into ethanol.
Meanwhile, Members of Parliament also began an inquiry into the matter with senior officials involved in the investigations also called to appear before various committees of parliament.
The unravelling sugar scandal was made public after President William Ruto suspended senior officials at KEBS including former Managing Director Bernard Njiraini.
It was explained that the over 20 officials remain suspended until the matter is investigated and concluded by the police.
No senior government officials had been arrested over the scandal, however, reports indicate that a cabinet secretary and MP are on the police radar.
"It has since been established that the consignment was irregularly diverted and unprocedurally released. Further, the conditions relating to open and competitive enlisting of the distiller were breached and the applicable taxes were not paid," Head of Public Service Felix Koskei stated.
