Embu traders demonstrate to protest Kenya bureau of standard crackdowns

EMBU, KENYA: Businesses came to a standstill in Embu town as traders took to the streets to protest alleged harassment by Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) officials on Wednesday.
They said the officials arrested traders and forced many business closed during a crackdown on fake and counterfeit goods.
County Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Samuel Kanyi decried the harassment of traders saying they were not involved in manufacturing the products they sell.
"It is unfair for the Kebs officials to arrest local traders and not the manufacturing companies that traders source their products from. Kebs should be stopping the movement of counterfeit products from their source and entry points," he said.
Kanyi tasked Kebs to enumerate a list of all the items the traders should not sell since the businesspeople were no experts in verifying the standards of various products.
The traders vowed to defy Kebs directives that those selling substandard products should close shop until when they were given a list of such items.

Businessman Patel Shatel said Kebs officers visited his hardware and ordered him to close down or risk arrest for selling substandard products.

Shatel said he gets his stock in bulk and that he has all the receipts of the items and where he gets his stock from.
The traders marched to the office of the governor and the office of the county commissioner to present their grievances.