House team warns tonnes of raw sugar import may be harmful
Business
By
Juliet Omelo
| Jun 11, 2026
National Assembly Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives chairperson Benard Shinali inspects raw sugar imported from South Africa at a storage facility in Nairobi, on June 10, 2026. [Collins Oduor, Standard]
Questions have emerged on the safety of thousands of tonnes of imported raw sugar after MPs flagged missing information on its manufacture, expiry, and traceability.
A report by the National Assembly Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has raised concerns that the sugar could already be in the Kenyan food chain.
The team noted that the multi-agency oversight team handling the consignment does not include the Ministry of Health, a gap the legislators say was worrying given the public health risks concerned.
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The committee inspected the consignment at the Nairobi Freight Terminal (NFT) on Wednesday after an earlier visit to the Port of Mombasa, where suspicions were first raised that part of the shipment may have entered the country without procedural compliance.
“We came here following our visit to Mombasa on May 15, and we were told that part of our consignment, suspected to have come in without following due procedure, and might be harmful to Kenyans, was imported,” said Bernard Shinali, the committee chair.
Officials informed the committee that 98 truckloads containing 6,458,300kgs of raw sugar had already been moved from Mombasa to Nairobi. They further disclosed that 135 truckloads had been transported from NFT to Kibos Sugar refinery in Kisumu, accounting for 81,188 bags of 50kgs each, equivalent to 3,932,920kgs.
MPs also raised concern that the sugar had been imported in bulk and later repackaged locally to facilitate handling and transportation, a process they argued further complicated traceability and raised questions about whether critical product information had been lost or altered in the process.
“The committee has seen what is here, but we are unable to establish the actual quantity because of the manner in which the goods are packed,” said Shinali.
Tension escalated as lawmakers pressed officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB), the Kenya Revenue Authority and other agencies over missing documentation.
The officials in charge of the shipment led by Samuel Kemboi from KSB struggled to give a consistent explanation.
“Something is being concealed here. If the importer brought it in bulk and then repackaged it, why couldn’t those details be transferred? Maybe this sugar is expired and it is here for the consumption of our people,” said Beatrice Adagala.
Officials from Kebs maintained that the consignment comprised raw sugar. “These are raw materials. That’s why it came as raw sugar. It is to be processed further before it can be released into the market,” said a Kebs quality assurance official.
But MPs dismissed the explanation, insisting that all food imports, including raw materials, must be fully traceable and supported by verifiable safety documentation.
“Everything has got a shelf life. You can’t tell us it is not important. Maybe it is already expired and cannot even be refined for human consumption,” said the legislators.
But upon being pressed, Kemboi confessed: “The importer is the one who printed the bags. We may not know why the date of manufacture and expiry were omitted.’’
Further concern was raised over the movement of the sugar from Mombasa to Nairobi and later Kisumu, with MPs questioning why the consignment was not transported directly to the refinery if it was strictly meant for processing.