Busia County Woman Representative Catherine Omanyo is mulling a new bill that will mandate President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel to taste all imported foodstuffs before distribution to the masses.
Addressing a congregation in Busia County, the lawmaker insisted that the bill will guarantee the safety of all food commodities, including maize, rice, and cooking oil which are imported into the country.
Her remarks come after the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) declared a consignment ordered by Ruto's regime unfit for human consumption.
"When that cooking oil arrives in Kenya, it should be taken to State House for two weeks before it is distributed to shops," she insisted.
"Everything imported at Mombasa should be taken to State House for President William Ruto and Rachel (First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto) before selling it to us. I am preparing a bill, and I hope Moses Wetangula (National Assembly speaker) will approve, to ensure that every imported good including sugar, oil, and chocolate should go to State House."
The lawmaker also poked holes in the quality verification process applied to the importation of cooking oil, arguing that experts should have detected any anomaly during the production and packaging stages.
"They imported cooking oil which is unfit for human consumption. I don't think they had good intentions for Kenyans. Where was the government during the planning and packing stages for importation? They were busy taxing us," she added.
In a letter directing the shipments to be diverted back to the country of origin, KEBS noted that the oil did not comply with Vitamin A and Insoluble Impurities standards.
For instance, the fat content in the Edible Oils exceeded the required amount by 0.47%.
"The consignments have been rejected and the importer is hereby advised to reship them back to the country of origin within 30 days from the date of this letter, failure to which they shall be destroyed at the importer’s cost," read the letter from KEBS in part.
The revocation deals a blow to the Head of State's plan to lower the cost of living since the consignment, which was ordered from Malaysia, was expected to bring down the cost of cooking oils on supermarket shelves.
Currently, a two-litre bottle of cooking oil retails between Ksh700 and Ksh1,000.
