NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 23 \u2013 The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in collaboration with the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), has confiscated 124 bales of expired maize and bean seeds along with significant quantities of expired fertilizers in Bungoma County.<\/p>\n
The operation was initiated following reports of expired agricultural products circulating in the market, posing a threat to farmers and food security. Targeting Kanduyi division in Bungoma, law enforcement officers arrested Hillary Wafula and seized the expired seeds.<\/p>\n
The crackdown extended to Harambee Trading Centre in Kakamega County, where three additional suspects\u2014John Kiniale, Mercy Merun, and Felix Oyath\u2014were apprehended. Searches conducted at three residential houses uncovered approximately 70 tons of expired maize, 10 tons of beans, and 50 bags of 50kg expired fertilizer. All the confiscated products had been previously condemned for destruction.<\/p>\n
President William Ruto has consistently condemned the sale and distribution of counterfeit agricultural inputs, emphasizing the damage they cause to Kenya\u2019s agricultural sector. \u201cThose selling fake fertilizers and seeds will face the music,\u201d the president warned, reinforcing the government\u2019s zero-tolerance stance on substandard inputs.<\/p>\n
This operation comes amid heightened concerns about the prevalence of counterfeit agricultural products in the market. Earlier this year, a scandal involving fake fertilizers distributed through government channels sparked public outrage and demands for accountability.<\/p>\n
Farmers have been urged to remain vigilant and purchase inputs only from certified dealers to avoid financial losses and reduced productivity caused by fake products. The DCI and KEPHIS operation highlights the government\u2019s ongoing commitment to safeguarding farmers\u2019 interests and ensuring the integrity of the agricultural sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not just about cracking down on counterfeit goods; it is about protecting the backbone of Kenya\u2019s economy\u2014our farmers\u2014and ensuring national food security,\u201d a DCI spokesperson said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 23 \u2013 The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in collaboration with the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), has confiscated 124 bales of expired maize and bean seeds along with significant quantities of expired fertilizers in Bungoma County. The operation was initiated following reports of expired agricultural products circulating in the market, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}