In a bid to curb the rising cases of fake fertilizer distribution in the country, eight officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) were suspended on Sunday in the escalated  government crackdown on the substandard product .

The officials were let go after they were suspected to have been part of a larger group that has been giving two companies the green light to distribute substandard fertilizer by issuing the KEBS marks of quality.

The two companied are said to have been issuing the KEBS stamps to different distributers  who later release the fake fertilizer under the government-subsidized fertilizer program to unsuspecting customers.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers believe the two companies have been acquiring the stamps through malicious ways without the knowledge of the Kenya Bureau Of Standards.

Twenty more KEBS officials suspected to  be part of the fake fertilizer syndicate are under investigations.

On Sunday Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua assured Kenyans the fake fertilizer will not threaten Kenya’s food security saying that those found to behind the heinous act will be brought to book.

He revealed that inceptive findings show that the fraudulent suppliers had dispatched 50,000 bags of fake fertilizer, a volume that he says is  insufficient to jeopardize the nation’s food security.

“The quantity of fake fertilizer involved is very low,  out of 40 million bags of fertilizer distributed under the program, approximately 50,000 bags have been identified as counterfeit,” Gachagua stated.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has initiated legal action against the company behind the fake fertilizer whose distribution to farmers has caused a national uproar.