Kabras manufacturer disowns poisonous sugar impounded in Nairobi

Kabras manufacturer disowns poisonous sugar impounded in Nairobi

Western Kenya Sugar Company Limited, which produces the Kabras brand, has denied importing the contraband sugar nabbed by the government.

The company’s Managing Director Tejveer S. Rai on Tuesday blamed cartels and unscrupulous traders who he claimed had been importing contraband sugar and repackaging it in the company’s branded plastic bags.

“We wish to confirm that West Kenya Sugar Company Limited was NOT the proprietor of the sugar reportedly seized by Government Authorities at Eastleigh in Nairobi on 5th June 2018,” Mr. Rai said in a statement to newsrooms.

“West Kenya Sugar Company Limited is often a target of counterfeiters and unscrupulous traders and packers who import and pass off contraband products in our name.”

The company, however, noted that it had in the past imported bulk brown sugar in bags marked ‘Not for Sale’ but had at no time released it into the market before fully processing it for human consumption.

According to Mr. Rai, Western Kenya Sugar Company only imported the industrial sugar after the government allowed millers to do so due to the extended drought experienced in Kenya in 2016-2017.

“In view of the exceptionally reduced supply of cane available from our preferred local farmers caused by that drought, West Kenya Sugar Company Limited along with several other companies, consequently applied for and were granted a licence to import bulk brown sugar by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA),” reads part of the statement.

“The same sugar was transported 900 KM by road from Mombasa to Kakamega for processing. The final product is then tested in our laboratories to ensure that it meets the KeBS table sugar quality standards and our own Kabras Sugar brand quality standards. ”

Three traders, who have since been arraigned in court, were caught in Eastleigh, Nairobi with 1,126 bags of substandard white and brown sugar which they were allegedly repackaging into Kabras branded bags.

The three – Dahir Ahmed Hassan, Mohammed Dahir and Ahmed Sheikh Mohamed – are believed to be directors of Diamond Wholesalers stores sugar company in Eastleigh.

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Kabras Contraband sugar Western Kenya Sugar Company Limited

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