President Uhuru Kenyatta has made a key change to the fight against counterfeit products in the market barely a week after the Kenya Anti-counterfeit Agency confiscated about 31,000 pieces of fake “morning-after” pills estimated to be worth Sh7 million.
A consignment of the fake emergency contraceptive, commonly known as P2, was discovered together with other counterfeit materials including 51 designer purses and 4,000 electronics worth up to Sh25 million at the Embakasi Inland Container Depot, Nairobi.
The President has now appointed former Rift Valley regional coordinator Wanyama Musiambu to lead efforts aimed at ridding the country of fake goods.
During a round table at State House, Nairobi on May 10, Mr Kenyatta declared that Musiambu will be in charge of renewed government efforts of curtailing graft, which has made the trade of counterfeits grow robust.
Musiambu, who now serves as Deputy Head of Public service is expected to tackle the menace of fake business stickers, dumping and entry of counterfeits through all ports.
The port of Mombasa and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) have been in the headlines most often as key entry points of myriad fake products.
President Kenyatta is reportedly sick of the counterfeit trend and has expressed his commitment to see it decimated for the sake of his legacy.
He said; “We must say enough is enough because the vice has the potential to undermine the Big Four Agenda and completely destroy Kenya.”During the recent Embakasi port raid, Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed.said that the majority of the products confiscated originated from China through the port of Dubai.
About 3 years past, the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board warned Kenyans to be vigilant after counterfeit ‘Postinor-2’ drugs were found in Kampala, Uganda, by World Health Organisation (WHO) officials.