The board has also warned that it is illegal for anybody to sell pesticides in open air markets
The Pest Control Products Board in partnership with the DCI has rolled out a nationwide crackdown on fake pesticide products. The board said it is illegal to sell pesticides in open-air markets, car boots and temporary structures.
“The public is notified that the quality of pesticides sold in this manner cannot be guaranteed and they pose a risk to themselves and the environment,” the board warned.
Last week, PCPB and DCI officers carried out the exercise in Mombasa, arrested two people and shut several businesses. The suspects were arraigned and fined Sh100,000 each or serve a one-year sentence. “PCPB in collaboration with the DCI arrested two suspects on Biashara Street, Mombasa county, selling fake and unregistered pesticides,” said Stanley Mruu Ng’ang’a, PCPB Coast regional manager.
He said the Mombasa cases will serve as a warning to others involved in the sale of illegal pest control products. “I would also like to warn those hawking pesticides, that it is against the law to hawk pesticides. The long arms of the law will catch up with you,” said Ng’ang’a.
He said during the crackdown, their team impounded more than 300,000 kg of illegal pesticides enroute to Kabati, Kenol in Murang’a County. He said the importer did not have the necessary papers.
Ng’ang’a said the crackdown has been extended to all parts of the country and KRA has been roped into the exercise. He said PCPB and DCI officers will visit Agrovets and farms to ensure products being sold are of prescribed standards.
The crackdown comes barely days after Uasin Gishu Woman Representative and Deputy National Speaker Gladys Boss said in Parliament that at least 200 pesticides banned in the US and EU are on sale in the country.
Boss said 20 researchers at the University of Nairobi had in a paper, Pesticide Atlas, indicated that the 200 products were widely on sale across the country.
“PCPB must do everything at its disposal to ensure that these fake pesticides are completely removed from shelves,” she said.
A recent report by the Root to Food Initiative (RFTI) revealed that more than 75 per cent of insecticides sold in the Kenya are highly hazardous.