Kenyans In Need of Counterfeit Education; Boniface Gachoka SG (BAHLITA)
Kenyans In Need of Counterfeit Education; Boniface Gachoka SG (BAHLITA)
The Secretary General, Beverage and Hospitality Liquor Industry Association (BAHLITA) Mr. Boniface Gachoka has urged the government to allocate more funds to ACA to help fight the counterfeit menace.
Speaking in an interview https://africabusinessnews.co.ke/international-symposium-on-isippe-2-to-mark-world-anti-counterfeit-day-2024/where Kenya commemorated this year’s World Anti-Counterfeit Day by hosting the second edition of the International Symposium on Intellectual Property, Protection, and Enforcement (ISIPPE-2). Mr. Gachoka noted that
“We are very happy about this symposium. We have been able to achieve a lot in terms of literacy and our passion of fighting counterfeits. One of the noticeable gap during the symposium is that Kenyans need to be taught about counterfeits and how to counter it.”
The high rate of counterfeiting in Kenya has resulted in far reaching repercussions on public health and economic development sparking an urgent to educate consumers and for companies to adopt authentication solution.
“We are one of the industries that have really suffered because of counterfeits. The recent survey that was done by Euromonitor states that 60% of liquor that is in the market is either counterfeit or illicit. We have seen through the forum that the government needs to allocate more funds to Anti-Counterfeit Authority, for Kenyans to be taught more about counterfeit and to build enthusiasm from Kenyans. This will help reduce the cost of counterfeit that is affecting this economy in such a way that in a year we are losing about Ksh252 Billion almost worth a whole industry.”
Mr. Gachoka adds that the impact of counterfeit extends to reaping the economy, losing taxes and losing lives.
“We have learned that 40% of the medical supplies maybe counterfeit. We have seen the issue of counterfeit online marketing also and a large profit of counterfeit goes to criminal gangs, terrorism and funding serious crimes”
“We are planning to engage the youth groups from mashinani levels to help in doing away with the normalcy of engaging in counterfeit. This will be done through campaigns private and public sector” Implored Mr. Gachoki
The event, themed “Uniting Against Counterfeiting for a Healthy and Safe Future,” aimed at fostering collaboration and innovation in intellectual property (IP) protection, raising awareness about the dangers of counterfeit products, and highlighting the importance of safeguarding IP rights for economic growth and public safety.
Find more information about Beverage and Hospitality Liquor Industry Association (BAHLITA) https://bahlita.co.ke/
