Police impound relief food being packaged for sale

Some of the emergency relief food that was nabbed being repackaged for sale in Ngoingwa estate in Thika. [Kamau Maichuhie/Standard]

Police in Thika yesterday unearthed a racket where emergency relief food said to be from Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County was being repackaged for sale.

Thousands of bags containing relief food, packaged in World Food Programme (WFP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAid) cases, were found when the police raided the store in Ngoingwa estate.

Workers at the store were busy packaging rice into new bags some of which were branded ‘Tana River County Government Relief Food'.

Police said they acted on a tip-off from the public that some rice meant for relief food was allegedly being repackaged for sale at the store.

The rice was being repackaged in 50kg bags.

The owner of the store where the relief food was found denied claims that the rice had been stolen from Daadab.

He said he bought the rice from a businessman in Garissa town, who had in return bought it from refugees.

And even though bags containing the rice were clearly written that it was not for sale or exchange, the owner said he had all the documents needed to transport the food from Garissa to Nairobi.

Among the documents is a letter allegedly written by a senior police officer in Garissa, asking police along the Garissa-Nairobi highway to let the trucks through the road blocks.

Several people, including the owner of the store, were arrested and taken to Thika Police Station for questioning.

Kiambu County Police Commander Adiel Nyange said Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards, WFP and USAid would investigate the source of the relief food.

On the rice bearing 'Tana River County Government Relief Food mark, the businessman said he had been contracted by a supplier who had won a tender to provide food to thousands of residents who were recently displaced by floods.

Tana River County Director of Communications Steve Juma confirmed they had issued a tender to be supplied with rice for the flood victims.

Mr Juma added that they did not know the source of the rice, saying they gave out the tender after the businessman competitively won the bid.

“The police should be left to probe the matter. Should the trader be found have engaged in illegal business, we will blacklist him,” said Juma.