Booksellers want plans by the Ministry of Education to procure books directly for schools shelved. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
Booksellers in the country have opposed plans by the government to supply textbooks directly to secondary schools.
Kenya Booksellers and Stationers Association secretary general Mathew Nashio said the Ministry of Education should wait until they clear book stocks from their selves before implementing the programme.
"Millions of Kenyans who have invested heavily in book supply and distribution will suffer huge loses should the government start implementing the policy in an unstructured manner," said Nashio.
He spoke while addressing journalists in Nairobi on Saturday.
He further said Kenya Booksellers and Stationers Association will sue publishers who enter into a deal with the Education Ministry for the new 'direct-to-school' textbook supply policy.
"Claims by publishers that we inflate prices of textbooks to make abnormal profits are false," Nashio added.
A recent report by Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) revealed that the government could be losing up to Sh13 billion annually to fraud in purchase of books.
Education CS Fred Matiang'i has announced that the government will supply core textbooks to all Form One students when they report to schools on January 9, 2018.
"We cannot allow middlemen to mess the future of our children by inflating the cost of books," Matiang'i said.