Importer and distributor of healthcare and consumer goods Harleys Limited is on the spot for selling substandard goods to Kenyans.
The company is accused of repackaging pharmaceuticals products which they import without expiry dates, choosing to make stickers locally and place on the products.
This is not the first time the company is facing such allegations, as it is battling a court case where they are being prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for importing sub-standard adult diapers from China.
In this new case, they do not put KEBS stickers on these items (as shown in the image) since the products have not gone through the inspection procedure.
Insider sources intimate that no employee can dare report the matters for fear of being fired which is a norm at Harleys, targeting only Kenyans.
The human resource manager is a lady of Indian origin, carrying the title of a ‘chief administrator’. She is accused of terrorising Kenyan-Africans with all manner of frustrations and accusations including unwarranted sackings.
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“In fact all senior positions at Harleys limited are a preserve for the Indians and some are not even citizens of Kenya. Local people are only there to do manual work and marketing of Harleys imported products,” says our source within the company.
The directors for these illegal dealings are said to be ‘untouchables’, since they have mastered the art of bribery. They not only bribe to have their products cleared at the ports without normal checks but they also bribe Kenyan retailers to get business from them whether the products have passed through the laid down processes or not.
“The bribery is of great magnitude that Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) need to do a thorough audit on the company financial accounts because a lot of revenues/taxes are lost through this,” said a consumer who reached out to Kahawa Tungu.
In July, the Anti- Counterfeit agency nabbed a container with contraband goods worth Ksh7 million during an impromptu inspection at Mombasa based Portside Container terminal.
This was after intensified crackdown on contraband goods by the government, which seems to have left Harleys untouched.
In August, President Uhuru Kenyatta witnessed the destruction of Ksh1.5 billion illicit goods in Machakos even as the crackdown intensified.
He warned that no corrupt individual will be spared irrespective of their real or perceived seniority in society.
“All corrupt people will go to jail without compromise. But due process of the law will be followed so that those who think they have been wrongly accused can demonstrate their innocence and be vindicated,” he said.
Consumers, retailers and employees are now calling upon the government to investigate the matter and save citizens from contraband goods being imported and sold by Harleys.
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