The Anti-Counterfeit Authority will on Monday destroy assorted counterfeit goods worth more than Sh100 million.
Acting executive director Fridah Kaberia on Friday said the move is meant to send a strong message to counterfeiters that their days are numbered.
“This is a warning that we will not allow counterfeits into our country. We will keep up the fight and I promise you we will succeed,” Kaberia said during a workshop with the media in Mombasa.
According to a national baseline survey, the counterfeit industry in Kenya was worth an estimated Sh262 billion in 2018, with the government losing Sh153.1 billion in revenue to the illicit trade. Kenya loses over Sh100 billion annually to illicit trade.
Manufacturers lost Sh68.75 billion worth of sales to counterfeits while some 9,158 jobs were lost due to counterfeiting.
Another Sh36.16 billion worth of investment opportunities were lost that year due to counterfeits.
On Friday, Kaberia called on all stakeholders, including the media, to join efforts in combatting counterfeits and illicit trade.
She said the fight is undermined by the perception that counterfeits are the genuine products and their cheaper costing.
“We have a serious issue of perception. People would want to buy cheap without knowing that most of the time they (cheap things) are harmful to us,” Kaberia said.
This, she said, is especially so in the drugs and electricals industries, with the electronics among the leading counterfeited products.
She said the media is an important stakeholder in the fight against illicit trade.
“That is why we want to reach out to you to help us reach out to the public to help us educate them in the harmful effects of using counterfeits,” Kaberia said.
With the loss of revenue, the government fails to provide the necessary services to the citizens as required.
“It shows that counterfeiting messes up the economy big time because counterfeiters do not pay taxes,” she said.
ACA, which has three regional offices in Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret, has a presence in seven border points.
ACA enforcement manager Lindsay Kipkemoi said in Mombasa alone, the authority seized goods worth over Sh75 million between January and September this year.
“This is already more than what the authority seized in Mombasa in the whole of last year which was goods worth Sh38.5 million,” Kipkemoi said.