Forged car plate puts anti-counterfeit chief at odds in war on fakes

About six years ago Tokyo-based National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) published an interview profile of one of its alumni.

In the article, John Akoten Yohanis outlined his long-held dream of fighting the menace of counterfeits which he termed a threat to a country’s overall economic growth.

“Counterfeiting is an infringement of intellectual property rights. In this sense, it discourages innovation, investment, industrial performance and retards economic growth in general.

“By combating counterfeiting, the role of industrial clusters in industrial development is likely to be strengthened,” he said in the interview with his alma-mater that was published in September 2010.

A few years later Dr Akoten finds himself at odds, facing accusations of tolerating counterfeits — the menace he claims to abhor.

In a classical tale of hunter becoming hunted, the head of the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) is caught up in a storm after it emerged that the private number plates for his official car were forged on Nairobi’s notorious Kirinyaga Road.

The senior State official was also found to have altered the tracking gadget on one other vehicle assigned to him.
He, however, defended the move to alter the tracker unit, saying he took the decision for “private and security” reasons.

Ironically, the revelations that a vehicle assigned to Dr Akoten had fake number plates would never have been brought to light had the car not been involved in an accident on December 21, 2014 as an undesignated driver headed to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to pick one of the official’s relatives.

A committee investigating the circumstances of the crash heard how Dr Akoten gave his driver money to procure the fake set of civilian plates to replace the blue ones assigned to his official car, a Volkswagen Passat, registration number KBQ 633D.

“Due to police check units in Isiolo, Nakuru and Kitale, the acting executive director instructed his driver to make private number plates after the initial set was withdrawn.

The acting executive director gave the driver Sh2,500 and he went to make it on Kirinyaga Road in Nairobi,” the committee’s report reveals.
In his interview with GRIPS, Dr Akoten termed himself a principled man who believes in sound governance.

Rising to the position of acting executive director

He said his commitment to good governance led him to quit his job at the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR) where he began as a research fellow rising to the position of acting executive director when he exited.

“My tasks involved conducting research and making local and international presentations on agriculture and industrial policy issues, including supervising master’s students, junior research staff and government officials interested in policy research.

“On numerous occasions, I also served as acting executive director until when I was officially confirmed in October 2009. I took up this position until April 2010 when I resigned because of bad governance,” he told the Japanese college where he obtained both his Masters and PhD in international development studies .

Colleagues at the ACA offices on Nairobi’s Telposta Towers described Dr Akoten as “unpredictable and no nonsense”.
“He is not the boss you joke around with and you know how power in government offices is treated.

“People are always escaping his presence and sometimes we find it hard to be sure what he wants us to do,” said a middle level manager who requested not to be named.

Last year, Mr Akoten sent four senior officers on compulsory leave over allegations of gross misconduct backdating their suspensions by three days.

The former student of Lodwar High School attributed his decision to numerous complaints from manufacturers, specifically, owners of intellectual property rights.

The officers sent on compulsory leave include deputy director, enforcement, prosecution and legal services Johnson Adera, assistant director, enforcement Abdikadir Mohamed, anti-counterfeit Inspector II Weldon Kiprotich Sigei and anti-counterfeit Inspector I Sammy Arekai Sarich.

In May 2014, Dr Akoten found himself on the receiving end following an unsuccessful attempt by then Interior minister Joseph ole Lenku to suspend him from office.

He was among 52 public officers who were listed for interdiction following the proliferation of illicit alcohol that has claimed 81 lives in five counties.

Mr Lenku had accused Dr Akoten and National Authority for Campaign and Alcohol and Drug Abuse CEO William Okedi of not enforcing standards and regulations leading to sub-standard drinks flooding the market.

Dr Akoten stayed in office after it emerged that Mr Lenku did not have a say on the operations of the Trade and Industrialisation ministry under which the ACA falls. Dr Okedi was asked by Mr Lenku, through a letter, to resume work a few weeks after the suspension.
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