NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 21- A company alleged to be selling fake fertilizer in the country has threatened to sue the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for maligning it\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n
Silica Booster Limited known as SBL synovate manufacturers has termed the accusations by KEBS as a deliberate attempt to taint their name based on lies.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Joe Kariuki defended the accusations that KEBS never certified their product saying they were issued a certificate for their products on January 28 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is shocking that a government office and specifically the CEO, Esther Ngari would give a false statement to both parliament and the public. On the contrary KEBS issued certification to our products,\u201d said Kariuki.<\/p>\n
Kariuki explained fertilizer barons out to impede fair competition have sold the narrative on GPC fertilizer being fake in attempt to bury the real criminals in the fertilizer scandal.<\/p>\n
He alluded that the current statement by KEBS is aimed at fueling the current war between local natural-based non-chemical fertilizers against GPC Harvest fertilizers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeterlisers barons will destroy this country. No one is willing to stop them or prosecute those these people. Instead they are now trying to stop genuine competition,\u201d Kariuki remarked.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe believe the timing of these allegations is wrong. The planting season is here. In the last two years, we have gained the trust and dedication and loyalty of 100000 Kenyan farmers across 30 counties farming thousands of acres.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s Chief Executive officer insisted that government bodies must not be used to enhance monopoly in the fertilizer industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair competition in the fertilizer industry should and must be allowed. Farmers will benefit from lower prices because of competition. there should be no monopoly in the fertilizer industry.<\/p>\n
KEBS had accused the Kenyan-based regional fertilizer merchant of fraud after it emerged the firm supplied substandard fertilizer to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).<\/p>\n
Yesterday, documents tabled before the National Assembly Agriculture Committee by KEBS showed how SBL-Innovate Manufacturer Limited supplied substandard fertilizer dubbed \u2018BL-GPC\u2019 for over a year undetected.<\/p>\n
KEBS said the firm applied for certification on January 13 and secured approval on January 28, 2023.<\/p>\n
KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari told MPs that initially, the company had complied with all requirements which prompted the agency to issue them permits to supply organic fertilizer but later committed fraud by violating the standards.<\/p>\n
The standards agency certified SBL-Innovate Manufacturer to supply organic fertilizer but the firm supplied diatomite, which relies on a biologically generated form of Silica to enhance soil conditions, to NCPB stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring our surveillance, we sampled the product that was being sold in agrovets and finally got intelligence that the product was being supplied through NCPB stores. Test reports showed the product failed on organic matter,\u201d Ngari said.<\/p>\n
For months, farmers unknowingly purchased the product bearing KEBS certification.<\/p>\n
KEBS said it launched a probe following a tip-off from the public, seizing 5,840 bags in a surveillance raid.<\/p>\n
Following the intelligence, NCPB sampled the product in over 59 ware stores across the country which led to the suspension of the product permits amid fears that the product may still be in circulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t received any communication from NCPB in regards to this particular matter even as they were distributing,\u201d Ngari stated.<\/p>\n
KEBS asserted that it had initiated legal proceedings against SBL Innovate Manufacturers Limited even as it remained unclear on the product quantity in the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have written to the Director of Public Prosecution so that we can be able to prosecute the matter under the standard act,\u201d said Ngari.<\/p>\n
The parliamentary probe came hours after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) seized 700 bags of suspected fake fertilizer in Kakamega.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 21- A company alleged to be selling fake fertilizer in the country has threatened to sue the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for maligning it\u2019s reputation. Silica Booster Limited known as SBL synovate manufacturers has termed the accusations by KEBS as a deliberate attempt to taint their name based on lies. The […]<\/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-16233","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\/16233","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=16233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}