Officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), appeared before the National Assembly's Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives on Thursday, June 8, to shed more light on the condemned sugar scandal.
The officials disclosed that they were not part of the scandal, as argued by President Willam Ruto, who fired several employees, including its former Managing Director Bernard Njiriani.
According to KEBS, the condemned sugar was in the custody of another government agency roped into the scandal.
The acting director general, Esther Ngari, added that KEBS was waiting for the accused agency to release the sugar and officially hand it over to them.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary committee sought to determine whether the accused government agency held other consignments also condemned.
It also sought to understand the measures put in place to avoid the reoccurrence of such malpractices in the future.
Furthermore, the committee chairperson, James Gakuya, questioned whether KEBS tested the sugar at its Mombasa warehouse.
Ngari played cagey with the question but explained that KEBS would establish a permanent committee to destroy the sugar and other suspected goods. The committee will also review the Standards Act to give clear powers to KEBS on the destruction of rejected consignments.
She urged the committee to issue the standardisation body two weeks to prepare a conclusive report.
On May 17, Ruto fired the KEBS MD and 26 government officials from KEBS, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the National Police Service (NPS), and the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
In a statement, Ruto complained that some officers failed in their responsibilities, thus putting the public at risk.
The released condemned sugar was set to be converted to industrial ethanol after the 20,000 bags (each 50kgs) imported in 2018, were condemned by KEBS.
"It has since been established that the consignment was irregularly diverted and unprocedural released," read part of the statement.
The Head of State directed the condemned goods to be reshipped and destroyed at the owner's cost.
