Irate mob disrupt Kebs attempt to destroy toxic rice

Drama ensued at Huruma dumpsite in Eldoret on Wednesday evening when senior Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) officials who were on a mission to destroy contaminated rice were forced to flee after being attacked by scores of defiant youths.

The senior government officials, among them Kebs Managing Director Esther Ngari and Uasin Gishu County Commissioner Eddyson Nyale, scampered for safety and the mission abruptly aborted. The duo, accompanied by Kebs North Rift regional manager Vincent Cheruiyot and other employees had assembled at the dumpsite to witness the exercise to destroy the condemned 546 bags of rice packed in 25-kilogramme bags. The rice worth millions of shillings had been impounded from a food products supplier in Eldoret town.

As soon as the offloading excercise began, the violent youth began pelting stones at the officials while demanding that the rice be given to them.

 A team of police officers fired live bullets in the air to scare the adamant youths away, but were overwhelmed and also had to run for their lives.

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A female police officer sustained serious injuries on her left hand and stomach after she was hit by stones during the running battles. She was rushed to a private hospital in Eldoret town where she was treated and discharged.

An excavator machine operator was also injured during the melee.

The youths were angered by the state agency’s move to destroy the rice, which had been declared unfit for human consumption instead of donating it to them.
According to the MD who spoke after the incident, the officials were left with no choice, but halt the operation on security grounds. “A multi-agency team that seized the contraband consignment of the imported rice at a store within Eldoret town last week included Kebs, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Agency and the police,” said Ngari.

She said they had barely destroyed 50 bags of the rice before the unruly and armed youths foiled the mission, terming the incident a criminal activity. Ngari added that Kebs would in no way distribute the contaminated rice which had been flagged by Kebs and declared unfit for human consumption after failing the aflatoxin test.
“We want to restrategise and destroy the remaining rice which is being stored at the County Commissioner’s office. The bulk of the rice, about 498 bags is yet to be destroyed,” she said.

She disclosed that the consignment was part of more than 1,000 bags of rice that was seized in Nairobi weeks ago and ferried to Eldoret town while vowing that the contaminated rice will not find its way back to the market.
The County Commissioner condemned the incident warning residents against consuming poisonous foodstuff.