Anti-fakes agency seeks warehouse

Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) is seeking to buy a warehouse in Nairobi measuring between 7,500 and 12,000 square feet as it intensifies war on illicit goods.

ACA executive director Elema Halake said bidders should present land ownership documents. In case of leasehold owners, the remaining tenure should not be less than 45 years.

“It should have provision for offices, washrooms and a kitchen as well as be connected to electricity, sewer and piped water,” said the notice.

ACA, which in the past year has been relying on leased go-downs as well as using unaccustomed go-downs, said the move was aimed at enhancing its capacity to secure seized items that are usually preserved for long periods pending tendering before court as evidence.

ACA chief public communications officer Tom Muteti said the ACA had opted to buy a go-down it will renovate to fit the different types of goods they seize from unscrupulous traders.

“LPG cylinders require a different storage facility from drugs as well as other items and this made us to decide to buy a facility that can be renovated at lower costs than a leased facility,” he said.

The ACA said it is costly to lease space and has suffered other challenges on securing seized items in private warehouses.

In the notice, the agency said they were looking for a standalone warehouse in a secure location which would help them monitor all operations from one roof.

In the past year, the ACA’s powers were enhanced following amendment to the ACA Act, enabling it to enter premises, inspect and seize items they consider counterfeit. They are now able to prosecute cases on their own.

Last year President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the formation of a multi-agency taskforce to crack down on counterfeits.