Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) has assured farmers from the Western sugar belt that it will soon get to the bottom of the illegal sugar importation into the region.
AFA Director General Anthony Muriithi said they are in consultation with Uganda authorities over the matter that spells death sentence to the local sugar industry.
Muriithi’s response came on the backdrop of protests from farmers and Western leaders who had demanded action against individuals involved in the illicit trade at the expense of farmers.
According to the stakeholders, some unscrupulous individuals and traders flooded the region with illegal imports, days before the custom window was opened last week.
The AFA boss on his part explained that restrictions put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country hindered the Authority’s surveillance of the border and the region.
He however promised to verify if the claims are true or not.
“We have a surveillance team that usually monitors the imports but as we talk they have not gone to the ground because of the current measures put by the government, he said.
He added that "We are trying to put in place necessary logistics so that we are able to send the team to assess whether it is something legal or it is within the import quota."
On Tuesday, local leaders from Western sugar belt joined farmers in condemning illegal importation of sugar and demanded that President Uhuru Kenyatta intervene to save the sector.
The local leaders drawn from Kakamega County Assembly, led by Deputy Speaker Leonard Kasaya said the region has the potential of producing enough sugar for local consumption terming the move to import the sweetener as ill-advised.
They noted the genesis of problems facing local sugar industries in the region could be traced to the illegal importation of sugar from Uganda.
