Police officers from Murang’a County on Tuesday, July 11 arrested traders from Kaharati market for selling painted avocados to unsuspecting buyers.
The swift action was taken in response to a video clip that surfaced online, featuring a dissatisfied buyer who had recently purchased the deceivingly altered fruits from the busy market.
“We can not continue like this, we have to come up with a way forward. I understand you seeking to make ends meet, but you need to conduct honest business that does not put the consumer at risk,” one of the officers stated.
The trick is to cleverly paint unripe or rotten avocados purple in order to fool the normally busy buyer into thinking they are in excellent condition and will be ripe soon.
Since most buyers do not leave their cars to inspect the products they are purchasing, it is simple to sell them corrupted avocados sparkling in purple under the hot Murang’a sun.
The Hass avocado, a small-sized avocado with dark green, bumpy skin, is the most commonly used type of avocado in the area.
An elderly man is paraded in front of the police and members of the public in a video shared by a popular Instagram gossip channel, as an official in a suit claims he’s the man behind the avocado-painting racket.
“Tunataka Wakenya waone ule ambaye anahuskika kwa hiyo maneno. Na sio avocado tu, pia kuna ndizi ambayo rangi yake inaonyesha yameiva, kumbe yamedungwa sindano na kemikali,” a police officer told a gathered crowd.
The officers urged the traders, to be honest and to avoid soiling the bustling market’s reputation.
Furthermore, he lamented that some of the traders were stealing the fruits from other people’s farms and painting them to avoid getting caught.
