Kenya arrests three women with 55 bags of diverted subsidised fertiliser
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Citizen
Kenyan police arrested three women in Migori after discovering 55 bags of subsidised fertiliser intended for farmers and marked as not for sale. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said the suspects were taken to a police station and that an investigation into the alleged sale is continuing.
Three women were arrested in Migori Township, western Kenya, after 55 bags of subsidised fertiliser were seized for allegedly being resold in violation of distribution rules, reports the Citizen newspaper. The bags bore the words “NOT FOR SALE”, indicating that they were intended for farmers benefiting from the public programme.
The arrests were made after a report from residents in the Apida area, in Suna Central, by investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations operating in Suna East. The suspects, Esther Mwera, Emily Akinyi and Elizabeth Kisili, led police to their respective shops, where the bags were recovered and seized as evidence.
The three women were taken to Migori police station pending the next stage of the proceedings. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations called on the public to report the diversion of public resources, saying that the resale of subsidised fertiliser deprives farmers of an input intended to reduce their production costs and support food security.
