Magistrate’s court on Monday charged the head of the state-run standards body, seven other officials and two businessmen with attempted murder for allowing the importation of poisoned sugar containing mercury.
Kenya has been hit by a series of scandals involving bogus tenders and suppliers that the authorities say led to the theft of hundreds of millions of shillings from government bodies by state officials.
On Friday police arrested Charles Ongwae, managing director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards’(KEBS), and the other officials after finding that the poisoned sugar imported from Morocco was approved for sale despite failing KEBS’s standards.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said on Twitter they were charged with attempted murder over the importation of 5,846,000 bags of substandard sugar.
A charge sheet presented in court by the prosecutor’s office said the fertiliser contained mercury.
KEBS is responsible for checking the standard of goods entering the country.
Eight of the 10 defendants appeared before Kenneth Cheruiyot, senior principal magistrate in Nairobi, and pleaded not guilty. Two others were not present in court.
The prosecutor’s office said they were also charged with procurement of fake standardisation sticker marks worth 882 million shillings ($8.75 million), aiding the commission of felony, breach of trust and abuse of office.