By The Weekly Vision Team
The Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), in liaison with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), has rolled out a nationwide crackdown on fake pesticide products being sold in the market. “The public is notified that the quality of pesticides sold in this manner cannot be guaranteed and they pose a risk to themselves and the environment,” the board warned.
The board has also warned that it is illegal for anybody to sell pesticides in open-air markets through hawking, car boot sales, and temporary structures. Last week, the PCPB and DCI officers carried out the exercise in Mombasa, where two people were arrested and several business outlets closed as the board sounded an alarm over the increasing trade in fake pesticide products.
Peter Muchu Waweru and Peter Nguru Mungai were arraigned in a Mombasa court and fined Ksh. 100,000 each or serve a one-year sentence. “The Pest Control Products Board, in collaboration with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), managed to arrest two suspects in Biashara Street, Mombasa County, selling fake pesticides and pesticides that had not been registered,” said Stanley Mruu Ng’ang’a, the Regional Manager Pest Control Products Board, Coast Region.
Speaking after the sentencing, PCPB Coast Region Manager Stanley Ng’ang’a said the sentence was to serve as a warning to others involved in the sale of illegal pest control products. “I would also like to warn those hawking pesticides, that it is against the law to hawk pesticides. The long arms of the law will catch up with you,” said Ng’ang’a.
Mr Ng’ang’a disclosed that during the crackdown, their team impounded more than 300,000 kg of illegal drugs (pesticides) on their way to Kabati, Kenol in Murang’a. He said the importer did not have the necessary papers. Ng’ang’a said the crackdown has been extended to all parts of the country, with the Kenya Revenue Authority being roped into the exercise.
He said that officers from the PCPB and DCI are visiting various agrovets and farms across the country to ensure that the products being sold are of the prescribed standards. The crackdown comes barely days after Uasin Gishu Woman Representative and Deputy National Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei claimed in Parliament that at least 200 pesticides banned in the United States and European Union are on sale in the country.
Ms. Shollei claimed that 20 researchers at the University of Nairobi had, in a paper dubbed “Pesticide Atlas,” indicated that the 200 products were widely on sale across the country. “PCPB must do everything at its disposal to ensure that these fake pesticides are completely removed from shelves in our shops,” Ms Shollei said.
A recent report by the Root to Food Initiative (RFTI) revealed that over 75% of insecticides that were being sold in the Kenyan market were highly hazardous. Most of the products were found to be too hazardous for usage, leading to their ban in European countries.
