Police arrest six with stolen relief food

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Nairobi County




Police have unearthed a racket in which unscrupulous businessmen have been stealing and selling relief food in Nairobi.



Six men were arrested and more than a ton of relief food recovered in a police operation in


Police officers from Nairobi area police station inspect relief food found Tuesday on two lorries in Kawangware estate, Nairobi. [PHOTO: EVANS HABIL/STANDARD]


Nairobi’s Kawangware estate.

Detectives found the six offloading the relief food that was to be distributed to the hungry in Nairobi slums.


Nairobi PPO Anthony Kibuchi said the Monday night arrests followed a tip off that the dealers had been offloading the food and selling it to the public.


During the operation, 27 bags of rice and 35 bags of beans were recovered from the six suspects.


“It seems they have been doing this for long. They repackage the food and sell it,” said Kibuchi.



Food and loading



Preliminary investigations had shown the food originated from a Government godown in Industrial Area and was cleared as relief food for the hungry in the slums.


Those arrested were found repackaging the food and loading it on two lorries.


Kibuchi said they are investigating to uncover all those behind the racket.


Meanwhile, Mandera East MP Ali Hussein Mohamed has asked the Government to increase relief supplies in his area.


Mohamed said there are about 90,000 people who need to be fed because of acute drought.


“Despite it being Ramadhan period, those people need food. There is shortage of food and we ask that the supply be increased,” he said.


Mandera East DC Benson Leparmorjo said no one had died of hunger.



Sustain them



“Most of them depended on food that used to come from the main border. But since it was closed, the Government has been supplying food to almost 45 per cent of residents here,” said Leparmorjo.


There are more than 200,000 residents in Mandera and 45 per cent of them rely on relief food.


Leparmorjo said many locals had been visiting various designated centres to pick up their rations as prescribed by the World Food Programme.


“As compared to Wajir and other neighbouring areas, we are better off. I can say most locals have food to sustain them,” said the administrator.