Senior NCPB Officials arrested After Meeting With Ruto’s Ps
Senior National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) officials have rep[ortedly been arrested just a few hours after meeting with Agriculture PS, Paul Ronoh on Tuesday.
According to reports, the NCPB officials were arrested and taken to police custody at around 8 pm on Tuesday. This came after the said officials attended a board meeting with Ruto’s PS from 11 pm.
The officials arrested include the managing Director of NCPB Joseph Kimoten, Marketing and Operations Director John Matiri, and Cooperations Secretary John Kiplangat Ngetich. A prominent businessman who was previously questioned over fake fertilizers is also reportedly wanted by police.
Their arrest followed the Director of Public Prosecution’s approval of police plans to charge the individuals and a businessman over the fake fertilizers scandal.
According to law enforcement authorities, they will face charges related to fraud and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Meanwhile, another file containing the names of additional suspects earmarked for arrest and prosecution remains pending at the DPP’s office, as confirmed by officials.
These files, along with their respective recommendations, were delivered to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) the previous week, on Monday.
The investigation into this matter was carried out by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters. Police had requested the ODPP’s permission to charge the suspects with a range of offenses, including fraud, abuse of office, and dereliction of duty, among others.
Prior to these latest arrests, detectives had interrogated numerous officials from various government agencies involved in handling the counterfeit fertilizer, including the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), the NCPB, and various suppliers.
Authorities asserted that they had summoned and questioned all individuals responsible for the acquisition and distribution of the substandard fertilizer.
In response to these developments, the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that testing of all fertilizers distributed under the government’s subsidy program had been completed. Officials stated that the tests had verified the quality compliance of all subsidized fertilizers, except those manufactured and distributed by a local company, which failed to meet all necessary test parameters.
