(NAIROBI, KENYA) – A parliamentary committee in Kenya has been told that the management of the Kenya Sugar Board granted import licences for industrial sugar without the legal power to do so. The licences allowed firms to bring a consignment of sugar into the country that is now suspected to be harmful for human consumption.
The National Assembly Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives heard that the Kenya Sugar Board had no functioning board in place during 2024 when the permits were issued. Despite this, its management went ahead and authorised the imports. Under Kenyan law, only a properly formed board has the authority to issue such licences.
The committee questioned the acting chief executive officer of the Kenya Sugar Board, Jude Chesire. He was unable to point to any specific law that allowed the management team to act in the board’s place. Documents shown to the committee on Tuesday revealed that throughout 2024, the board had only three of the required eleven members. The legal minimum for the board to conduct any business is eight members.
Aldai Member of Parliament Marianne Kitany, who serves as vice chairperson of the committee, pressed Mr Chesire to produce a letter from the board delegating its licensing power to management. Mathare MP Anthony Oluoch reminded the session that under the Statutory Instruments Act, the power to make such decisions cannot be passed from one body to another without parliamentary approval.
Gichugu MP Robert Gichimu stated that even if a delegation had been attempted, the three board members did not form a quorum. Therefore, they had no power to delegate anything. “Someone purported to have the power of the board when the board itself was not there,” Mr Gichimu said.
The committee is looking into the importation of 27,839 metric tonnes of sugar by Mombasa Sugar Refineries. The raw sugar arrived on 15 January 2026. Lawmakers are concerned about the safety of the product, its paperwork and how it has been moved around the country. Their main worry is whether this industrial sugar, which is not fit for human consumption, has entered the open market.
Industrial sugar is different from the table sugar sold in shops. It is meant only for use in bakeries, drinks factories and large food processing plants. Importing white refined sugar for industrial use is strictly limited to approved manufacturers.
Attention has focused on the movement of 26,220 bags of this sugar from a depot in Mombasa to Nairobi. The bags were transported via the Standard Gauge Railway. Documents before the committee show the Mombasa based importer obtained customs clearance on 24 April 2026. Loading began on 2 May 2026. The first batch, carried in 19 railway wagons, arrived in Nairobi on 3 May 2026.
MPs want answers from the Kenya Sugar Board on where this consignment is now and whether it is already being sold. The Sugar Board has stated that the 27,000 metric tonnes in question is safely stored in a customs bonded warehouse inside the Kenya Ports Authority facility in Mombasa, waiting for customs processes to finish.
In March 2026, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi set up a team from multiple agencies to manage the consignment’s release. This team includes the Kenya Sugar Board, the Kenya Revenue Authority, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the State Department of Industry and the National Police Service. Their task is to set conditions for release and to monitor the sugar to prevent it being sold for the wrong purpose.
Kenya does not grow enough sugar for its own needs. The country produced 472,773 metric tonnes in 2023, 815,454 metric tonnes in 2024 and 611,576 metric tonnes in 2025. Annual consumption in 2025 alone stood at 1,152,205 metric tonnes. To fill this gap, Kenya imported 608,178 metric tonnes in 2023, 338,345 metric tonnes in 2024 and 477,551 metric tonnes in 2025.