Now isnt this a surprise? – Mastermind Tobacco has stepped up the fight against counterfeit cigarettes in the Kenyan market, it announced yesterday (February 27, 2013). It said it has set up security teams in Nairobi, North Lake Zone, South Lake Zone, Meru, Central and Rift Valley. Focus will also be on borders such as Malaba, Chepkube and Lokichogio, the airports and ports.

“The investment in supply chain preventive security measures from the point of manufacture to the point of distribution has seen an improvement in preventing legitimate trade from being infiltrated by counterfeits,” said Mastermind in a statement. Quite rich for a company which was persona non-grata in South Africa for instance. Security teams for what? To assist delinquent Customs officials on what they do when the Mastermind truck arrives at the border?

Just a month earlier (January 2013) Mastermind featured a job advert on jobskenya24.com  (click hyperlink to read the job criteria) wherein one of the key criteria under qualifications and experience reads as follows –

“At least 10 years experience in Kenya Police Service, five (5) of which should have been as Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) especially in the Criminal Investigations Department or Anti-Bank Fraud Unit.”

So there you have it, somebody on the inside of government ear-marked for the job of overseeing investigations and no doubt border operations. See links below  on Mastermind’s historical exploits –

• Scorpions arrest four for R48m VAT tobacco fraud (mail and guardian)
• What does Anthony Gathogo Kihungi own in Kenya

• Corruption in Africa: It Takes Two to Tango (ThinkAfricaPress.com)