Leaders’ cartel blamed for maize shortage

Politicians have made millions of shillings from dubious deals with cereals board

A racket involving senior politicians and businessmen has been blamed for the artificial shortage of maize and maize flour that has hit many parts of the country.

Investigations by the Nation indicate that the politicians have been buying maize from the cereals board and selling it to millers at exorbitant prices.

Letters from the Ministry of Agriculture are being used by the cartel to authorise the purchase of maize from the National Cereals and Produce Board. The cartel later resells the maize to millers at a higher price.

The shortage of maize has seen the price of the staple maize meal shoot from an average Sh85 a week ago to Sh120 for the two-kg packet.

Dubious deals

Sources have revealed that those in the cartel, including a number of MPs, have made millions of shillings from the dubious deals.

On Monday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga held a crisis meeting with a Cabinet sub-committee on food security where they decided that middlemen be pushed out of the maize business.

Fears are also emerging that the cartel has been engaging in similar dealings for sugar and fertiliser, whose prices have been on the increase since the beginning of the year.

The politicians and businessmen are said to be buying a 90-kg bag of maize at Sh1,700 and selling it to the millers at between Sh2,200 and Sh2,700.

It is, however, believed that the politicians are not using their money in the shady deals. Instead, they have been acting as brokers.

According to one reliable source, several associates of the politicians showed up three weeks ago at the cereals board depots with letters authorising them to buy 25,000 bags of maize each.

After the dubious deal, each of the politicians earned between Sh12.5 million and Sh25 million depending on the price at which they sold the maize.

The price of maize flour has shot up by up to 50 per cent in the recent past to retail at Sh120. Millers have warned of an acute shortage of the product that was selling at between Sh80 and Sh85 only a week ago.

The millers have blamed the shortage on lack of maize in the market.

The shortage led to a crisis meeting of trustees of the National Cereals and Produce Board that was chaired by Special Programmes PS Ali Mohammed.

The meeting, according to the PS, came after the media reported a sharp rise in the cost of maize flour.

National Cereals Board managing director Gideon Misoi, Finance permanent secretary Joseph Kinyua and his Agriculture counterpart, Mr Romano Kiome, attended the meeting.

According to Mr Mohammed, the meeting was meant to find out how the Government could intervene to end the shortage.