Derrick Kago, a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) official, allegedly received a Sh130,000 bribe to allow the release of contaminated sugar worth 20 million to the Kenyan market.
According to The Standard, KRA officials who appeared before the National Assembly Trade and Investment Committee said that investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had established that Kago allegedly received the said payment.
“DCI investigations showed that Derrick was paid about Sh130,000… that is why he was suspended,” said Levi Mukweso, a senior officer at KRA.
Kago is believed to have received the payment to allow access to Vine Pack Industries Limited warehouse, where the sugar was stored. He is also accused of illegally changing the KRA customs seals at the Thika-based warehouse.
Faith Kiara, a chief manager at the KRA, told the parliamentary committee that Kago was the last person to visit the go-down in March before the sugar disappeared. At the time, he had been sent to deliver a tax demand letter to Vine Pack over unpaid taxes.
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Levi Mukweso, a senior officer at KRA, said they learned of the disappearance of the sugar following DCI investigations.
The controversial sugar was imported to the country in 2018 but was flagged by KEBS for want of expiry date specification.
The agency marked the 20,000-50 kg bags of sugar as unfit for human consumption and was earmarked for destruction or conversion into industrial ethanol.
However, the process did not take place, and investigators said they discovered that the bad sugar had been released to the Kenyan market.
This irritated President William Ruto, prompting him to suspend 27 officials for endangering the lives of Kenyans. Kago was among those suspended alongside seven KRA officials.
Others include KEBS Managing Director Benard Njirani, six KEBS officials, four police officers, and six others from the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
