Senior NCPB officials arrested over distribution of sub-standard fertilizer

Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi chats with Chandrabhan Chimurkar, the General Manager KEL Chemicals Ltd. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Three senior officials at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) were arrested Tuesday evening over the distribution of sub-standard fertilizer.

The three are Managing Director MD Joseph Kimote, Corporate Secretary John Ng'etich and Marketing boss John Matiri.

They will be arraigned on Thursday, May 2, after the Labour Day public holiday on Wednesday.

According to a communique by the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingoga on Tuesday, the three will be charged alongside senior officials from private firms involved in the distribution of the fertilizer.

Kimote, the Managing Director, Ng'etich corporate secretary and Matiri who chairs the Business Committee at NCPB will be charged with conspiracy to defraud and abuse of office, DPP says.

Another suspect to be charged in court is Josiah Kariuki Kimani, the Director of SBL Innovate Manufacturers Ltd and Fifty-One Capital (K) Limited.

DPP says he will face charges of forgery, making a document without authority, uttering false documents, conspiracy to defraud and applying a standardization mark to a commodity that does not comply with Kenya standards.