Miguna reacts over arrest of condemned sugar scam 'mastermind'

A man alleged to be the mastermind of the theft of condemned sugar has been arrested.

The sugar, declared unfit for human consumption has been valued at Sh163 million.

Chrispus Waithaka was reportedly arrested by detectives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi on Saturday night upon arrival from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Waithaka is the director of Assets and Cargo Limited.

Reports indicate that he was one of the people who witnessed the breaking of customs seals on the 40 containers of condemned sugar on 20th April, 2023.

Upon arrival back in the country from Dubai, he was intercepted by immigration officials, who subsequently handed him to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives.

According to a police report, the suspect was in possession of a copy of an interim order for anticipatory bail capped at Sh100,000 granted by the High Court in Mombasa vide Criminal Miscellaneous Application number E067/2023 dated 19 May 2023.

Reacting to Waithaka's arrest, lawyer Joshua Miguna Miguna called for arrest of top government officials who might have aided the disapearence of the sugar.

"Why hasn’t the CS and other senior government officials who must have authorized the illegal release and sale of the poisonous sugar been arrested?" paused the vocal advocate.

Over 20 government officers have been suspended as a result of the release of the unfit sugar.

The 20,000 bags of sugar, each weighing 50 kilograms had been imported into the country in 2018 and condemned by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for lack of an expiry date.

The agency then ordered re-shipping or destruction of the sugar at the owner's expense, before the consignment mysteriously disappeared.

Only 14 of the 20,000 bags have been recovered by the police.