How Kenya flouted COMESA regulations and opened floodgates of duty free sugar importation

Foreign Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary Ababu Namwamba (centre) during the 38th COMESA Council of Ministers Summit held at Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka, Zambia. [Nathan Ochunge/Standard]

The National Treasury has been blamed for the unregulated duty-free sugar imports that are now being investigated.

Leaked correspondence at the time the Treasury opened the duty-free window between May 12 and August 31 last year show that the Ministry of Industrialisation protested that "in future, wider consultations should be done to ensure coherent and coordinated actions by all ministries".