Security beefed up as agriculture fair starts

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to open the Mombasa International Agricultural Show Thursday amid tight security.

More than 200 police officers will provide security at the Mkomani ground, where the annual event starts Wednesday.

Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Chief Executive Officer Batram Muthoka said the officers will patrol the venue to protect local and international exhibitors, their products and show-goers during the five-day event.

A temporary police post has been set up at the show ground, the CEO said.

Mr Muthoka said the county is enjoying relative calm. He cited the Mombasa international cultural festival, saying, it ended on Sunday without life-threatening incidents.

All visitors to the show will be frisked, he said.

“Given the security boost, show-goers have nothing to fear,” Mr Muthoka added during an address to journalists at the venue Tuesday.

The ASK boss said that this year’s show had attracted more than 200 local and international exhibitors.

Twenty of the exhibitors are new.

The foreign exhibitors are from Pakistan, Uganda and Tanzania.

The new local exhibitors include the Kenya Dairy Board, the Nuclear Energy Commission and the Export Processing Zones Authority.

LEARN NEW SKILLS

The others are the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Construction Authority and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

ASK Mombasa branch chairman Anthony Mrima said: “We expect the number of show-goers to hit the 200,000 mark partly because of the ongoing school holiday.”

Mombasa Agriculture Executive Anthony Njaramba asked farmers at the Coast to attend the show in large numbers to learn new skills.