Brookside, traders allege bias in issuance of Uganda dairy import permits
A farmer is treated to a product sample during a past field training session organised by Brookside Limited in Western Uganda. The company trades under the Fresh Dairy milk brand.
The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) is in the spotlight amid allegations that it has selectively allowed milk imports from some Ugandan processors while continuing to block products from others, including Brookside Limited, which has operations in both countries.
Traders in parts of the Rift Valley and Western Kenya confirmed the availability of Uganda's Lato and Dairy Top milk brands in the local market, with industry sources saying KDB had allowed the brands to be imported while denying import permits to Brookside Limited's Fresh Dairy brand.
Traders are now calling on the two governments to review and resolve the impasse to give consumers a wider choice of products.
"Consumers are asking why we no longer stock Uganda's Fresh Dairy products (processed by Brookside Limited), but we tell them we are not getting supplies from Kampala," said Simon Gathuita, a wholesaler in Bahati, Nakuru.
“The government of Kenya is stifling trade with Uganda by favouring certain Ugandan processors in the importation of dairy products,” Mr Ben Okwama, a trader in Kisumu, claimed.
“There is no doubt that all this is intended to block a firm whose parent company is Kenyan, from exporting to Kenya,” he added.
On Monday, August 5, Brookside Limited’s General Manager in Kampala, Benson Mwangi said the processor had not received any response from the KDB on the fate of 114 export permits it had applied for, and that a string of reminders to the Kenyan dairy regulator had hit a brick wall.
“We are, however, optimistic that KDB could soon implement the tenets of the communique by the two heads of state on May 17, which would unlock the impasse and allow us to resume export of our products,” Mwangi said on the phone from Kampala.
According to reports in Uganda media, trade relations between the two countries continue to hurt Uganda dairy farmers through continuous bans and denial of export permits for Uganda dairy products.
“We are confident the communique signed by the two heads of state is key to unlocking the trade barriers affecting our dairy exports to Kenya,” Mwangi added.
In March last year, the KDB stopped issuing permits for Ugandan dairy products in the Ken Trade system, despite a notice banning dairy imports issued by the same regulator having been rescinded by the Principal Secretary, State Department for Livestock Development.
The trade tensions affecting Uganda’s Brookside Limited continue unabated despite a joint communique between the two countries signed on May 17 when President Yoweri Museveni visited Kenya, during which the two nations committed to solidification of bilateral relations for mutual prosperity and development.
When reached for comment, KDB Public Relations officer, Stephen Maina Murimi referred this writer to the Managing Director Margaret Kibogy who did not pick her calls. She also did not respond to a text message request for comment.
