The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Board of Directors have appointed Esther Ngari as the Acting Managing Director to replace sacked former boss Bernard Njiraini after he alongside 26 others were implicated in controversial release of 20,000 bags of condemned sugar into the market valued at Sh163million.
Further, the board also appointed Bernard Nguyo as the Director in-charge of Quality Assurance.
Ngari has been serving as KEBS Director in-charge of Standards Development and Trade.
Yesterday, through a communication by Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei from State House, president William Ruto suspended Njiraini alongside 26 other officials over diversion of condemned sugar that had been earmarked for conversion into industrial ethanol to the local market.
Investigations into the scandal by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have been finalised and the file forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP).
DCI sleuths recommended that top managers of the KEBS and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) be charged with various charges, among them abuse of office.
The detectives had on Wednesday planned to charge some of the suspects but it was cancelled to allow the suspension of the 27 officials from various agencies and the review of the file by the DPP.
Several officials will be charged while some will be treated as witnesses, according to the DCI’s recommendations to the DPP. The detectives also recommended that others be dealt with administratively or internally.
“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. It is manifest that some officers in the relevant agencies abdicated their responsibilities, at the risk of public harm.” A dispatch from State House read in part.
Besides Njiraini, other KEBS officials axed include; Geoffrey Muriira (Director of Quality Assurance and Inspection), Hilda Keror (Manager Inspection, Mombasa Port Office), Liston Lagat (Assistant Manager, ICDN Nairobi), Stephen Owuor (Principal Officer), and Peter Olima Joseph (Inspector, Mombasa).
Those affected in KRA include Joseph Kaguru, Mwanja Masinde, Stephen Muiruri, Moses Okoth, Doris Mutembei, Chacha Hondo, Carol Nyagechi and Derick Kago.
Other officials from police who are part of multi-agency team that handled the sugar and were also suspended include George Mithamo, Joel Kirui, Benard Ngumbi and Raphael Mwaka.
Others include Joseph Maita Mweni (Port Health), Isacko Bonai (NEMA), Stephen Cheruiyot (Anti-Counterfeit Agency), Daniel Ngugi (KEPHIS), Willy Koskei (EACC), and Edwin Ruto (KPA).
AFA officials affected are Oscar Kai and Patrick Magut.
The 20,000 bags of sugar had been imported in 2018 and condemned over expired date and was earmarked for destruction or conversion into industrial ethanol.
But investigators said they discovered that the bad sugar had been released for use by the public yet it is unfit for consumption.
Last year, Ngari served as KEBS acting MD for a month after the Employment and Labour Relations judge Maureen Onyango revoked Njiraini’s reappointment terming it irregular in May 2022.
However, in June the same year, High Court Justice Jacob Gakeri suspended a decision that quashed Njiraini’s appointment decision by Justice Onyango had completely immobilised KEBS, putting Kenyans at risk because of lack of a board to standardise and regulate the quality of products, to be consumed in the country.
