Step up crackdown on deadly counterfeit goods

There is an alarming upsurge in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods, with Nairobi emerging as a hotspot in the deadly business running into millions of shillings.

As the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) intensifies its ongoing nationwide crackdown, it has found a wide range of illicit products, including alcohol and cigarettes. A multi-agency Rapid Results Initiative conducted in the high-risk areas of the city between August 20 and September 3 arrested 36 suspects.

The investigators seized 5,555 suspected counterfeit bottles and about 39,580 litres of illicit brew. In Makueni County, police impounded 8,495 suspected counterfeit alcoholic products valued at Sh2.1 million.

Other crackdowns carried out in September in Nairobi, Nyeri and Eldoret led to the recovery of fake goods worth Sh3.74 million. ACA has warned Kenyans to be vigilant as the demand for alcohol, tobacco, foodstuff and personal care products is going to rise ahead of the festive season.

Besides alcohol and tobacco, the crooked dealers are also selling nicotine products, school stationery and learning materials, and agricultural inputs. This illicit trade results in loss of government revenue and undermines the efforts of legitimate manufacturers.

Licensed alcohol manufacturers have raised the alarm over counterfeit liquor, accusing unscrupulous traders of recycling branded bottles and refilling them with illicit brews for sale to unsuspecting customers, causing deaths through poisoning.

The National Police Service has warned that police commanders in the areas with rampant cases of illicit brew and drug abuse will be held liable. The officers must record daily arrests and the seizures of the fake products.

Lives are at grave risk from the consumption of these illicit drinks and the contamination of food crops through the use of fake agricultural inputs, leading to an increased incidence of cancer cases.

The legal penalties for manufacturing counterfeit inputs and illicit brews should be enhanced. These deadly operations by crooked people should be treated as dangerous public health crimes rather than minor trade infractions, and the culprits should be severely punished.

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