KEBS half century: Is bureau a skeleton of its former self as Kenyans are exposed to harm?

After the initial niceties, her friend turned to the cooking oil she had tightly gripped in her hand and asked her how sure she was the cooking oil in her hand was not in the batch that was recently revealed to have passed into the market uninspected.

After a short anxious moment, she admitted that she could not be sure but hoped that the government had followed up in the public interest through the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). She resignedly shrugged her shoulders and they were soon onto other small stories. 

She definitely did not know that early last month, KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari told parliament that the cooking oil which was brought into the country via merchants sourced directly by the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) last year was not authenticated by the standards body. 

On the other hand, KEBS accused the KNTC of allowing the cooking oil into the market despite the consignment having been declared sub-standard. The standards agency alleged that over 32 million liters of fake cooking oil found its way to the market without government approval. 

Did KEBS have to wait for parliament summons to protect the public or they are duty bound to report to such lapses and do an immediate mop-up exercise of the affected product?

KEBS is slowly but surely out of its depth

Since the inception of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) in 1974, its main activities have been the development of standards and quality control for a limited number of locally made products but currently, they seek to provide more comprehensive standards development to an array of goods and services in many sectors. 

However, broadly viewed, the work of quality standards bodies is to ensure details of requirements, specifications, guidelines and characteristics that products, services and processes should consistently meet in order to ensure their quality matches expectations, and that they are fit for purpose and they meet the needs of their users. 

Local standards bodies borrow heavily from the ISO international standards. ISO Standards are by far the most widely accepted set of quality standards in the world. 

KEBS’ 50th celebration turned to a forum for lashing

When on October 14, KEBS proudly hosted their fiftieth anniversary, for the insiders this was a momentous golden jubilee worth celebrating in every way. How many government agencies make it this far, just look around, the recently expunged National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is no more. 

Contrary to their festive mood, the 50th anniversary forum provided the best platform for several senior state officials to put KEBS on the straight and narrow. During the celebration, the Head of Public Service, Felix Kosgey gave the standards body a tongue lashing. 

"We cannot say we are celebrating 50 years when people are complaining, and where countries are doubting our recommendations or our testing results. We have witnessed several cases of goods unfit for human consumption mysteriously disappearing, and later to be traced and found in the open market."  He continued, "We are also aware of buildings collapsing due to use of substandard materials. How does that happen? Some of you sitting here… are guilty."

Also in attendance was the Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Salim Mvurya who reiterated a thought had had been laid down in 2018 by the current Muranga Governor, Irungu Kangata on Citizen TV. Mvurya said “I am sure KEBS cannot have the capacity to do everything within the labs we have now, we need to see how we can work with the private sector so that we can have accreditation of other facilities that are beyond the capacity of KEBS.” 

CS Mvurya said that the changing global perspective demanded an immediate shift by the Bureau to adopt modern measures to cope. He further stated that by allowing private entities to perform similar functions as the government parastatal, this would help local products rank high in the global markets.

Fake fertilizer with KEBS on watch

In April 2022, at the height of the planting season, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) confirmed that fake subsidized fertilizer known as GPC Plus Organics in 25kg bags was being sold in the market. KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari confessed that the substandard fertilizer was being sold to farmers by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) during the busy planting season and they knew about it.

 Many farmers were affected as the same was being sold by the government agency, NCPB and hence a lot of crop failed to blossom as expected, a grievous loss to farmers and a threat to food security for the country.

Sugar that KEBS found ‘without’ mercury

Kenyans would surely rue to remember the still fresh mercury in sugar debacle of 2018. Former Interior Minister, Fred Matiang’i had claimed that a contraband consignment of sugar within the country at that time was contaminated with mercury.

 He then set up a multi-sectoral team that the Government used to launch a crackdown across the country. The multi-agency team soon impounded a consignment of contaminated sugar already being sold in local shops in Nairobi and Bungoma. 

When subjected to tests by KEBS, their report indicated that there was no mercury in the sugar, however, it had traces of copper and lead. 

This was in contradiction to a report of the same consignment by the government chemist which revealed some of the impounded sugar had traces of mercury, apart from other heavy metals. 

In 2023, Kenyans were shocked when it was revealed that over one thousand tons of sugar condemned and earmarked for destruction had not been destroyed 5 years later. This is the same batch of sugar that KEBS had condemned as unfit for human consumption in 2018 as it contained heavy metals. 

The same sugar consignment was quietly and irregularly released into the market for consumption and fears that it will harm the health of all who consume it. 

Several people were arrested and arraigned in court including the boss at KEBS, but to date that is all. Many Kenyans remain fearful that they might have unwittingly been partakers of the same and worry about their health.

Time for reform and ceding ground to private sector 

KEBS continues to have a monopoly over the standardization sector whereas it is pathetically limited in competence, technology and capacity to undertake every sectoral need. 

For decades, the local standards body has been staring at multiple failures, affecting many sectors and on varied scales. 

The failure by KEBS to admit incapacity and enable a regulatory model that would complement its work would be the first step towards remedying the current situation where the lives of Kenyans are put at risk as KEBS goes through the steps of validating standards which are of necessity empty as they do not have the wherewithal. 

The broken system in our standardization agency has made Kenya inadvertently, a smuggler’s paradise. From counterfeit electronic goods to substandard fertilizers being supplied to farmers in Kenya, edible oil and mercury-laden sugar unfit for human consumption freely circulating in the local market makes the country lose face, subjects the government to loss of revenue that would accrue from doing legitimate business in quality goods. 

Overall, the loss of public confidence in the KEBS is an indictment on the body charged with ensuring and keeping quality standards in the country.