Government Vows to “Flood” the Market with Hand Sanitizers

During a press conference yesterday, 18th February 2020, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, said that the government was working to flood the Kenyan market with hand sanitizers in the wake of coronavirus tensions in the country.

The announcement comes after supermarkets and pharmacies across the country reported shortages after Kenyans scrambled to buy the hand sanitizers in plenty shortly after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed.

According to CS Mutahi Kagwe, the government has already infused a system in the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) to work with sugar companies such as Muhoroni to produce ethanol (which is the main constituent of hand sanitizers) in plenty.

The scarcity of the commodity in Kenyan supermarkets and pharmacies has seen some retailers and business hike the prices even after the government warned against it.

“We are going to increase the supply of hand sanitizers in the market to the extent that this business of overpricing will not be viable after a while,” said Mutahi.

Cleanshelf Supermarkets was recently on the spot after it emerged that the retailer hiked the price of hand sanitizers on Sunday following a growing demand in the country.

This prompted the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to force the retailer to reimburse customers who had bought the item at exaggerated prices.

In a statement issued on Monday, the CAK of Kenya said it had established that the price of Tropical brand hand sanitizers, which retails at 800 shillings, was increased to amounts as high as 1000 shillings in the supermarket.

Read Also: Cleanshelf Supermarket Ordered To Refund Customers On Hiked Sanitizer