The Anti-Counterfeit Authority conducted raids on several shops in Kisumu city today, confiscating fake geometrical sets valued at over Kshs 500,000.
The authority reported an inundation of the market with fake versions of these sets, leading unsuspecting customers to purchase substandard goods.
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Tom Nyagare, CEO and Founder of Thinkly, which collaborated on the raids, highlighted the prevalence of counterfeits in major cities like Nakuru, Nairobi, and Mombasa.
Nyagare emphasized the need for suppliers, particularly bookshops, to only stock genuine products, warning that selling counterfeit items constitutes a legal offense punishable by fines or imprisonment.
Speaking in Kisumu, Nyagare announced that the operation coincides with World Intellectual Property Day, observed annually on April 26th.
students sitting for their KCSE examination; Image/KNEC
Last year, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) apprehended two individuals in Nairobi for illegally producing mathematical table covers with four-figure prints, as part of the country’s efforts to combat the proliferation of fake publications.
The suspects, Christopher Muthini Musyoki and Eugine Asunda, were apprehended at a store on Ronald Ngala Street.
Further investigation led to the identification and arrest of Jeremiah Esikumo Opati, the owner of the store and the printing machine, who revealed that he had been contracted by Muyela Aluta Samuel. Samuel, in turn, operated a printing store at Rahu House basement on Mfangano Street, where a printing machine and templates for Four Figure Mathematical Tables were seized.
Samuel directed detectives to another shop at Room 28, Manshram Mansion building on the same street, where over one thousand copies of Four Figure Mathematical Tables lacking covers were found and recovered.
