Cheap flour on sale from Wednesday

Subsidised maize flour for low income earners will hit the market starting Wednesday.

Agriculture Minister William Ruto has launched the flour branded as 'maize flour –feeding the nation’ at the National Cereals and Produce Board office in Nairobi.  

The minister announced that the flour packed in units of 5-kg bags would be distributed to retailers Wednesday morning across the country and would be sold at Sh130 per bag.

The flour, which the government announced last week was to be milled specifically for the poor, will be available to all Kenyans.

Previously, it was believed that the flour would be distributed to areas such as slums where a majority of poor Kenyans reside.

However, the minister said that the flour would also be available in the supermarkets.

Mr Ruto also said that millers were expected to start the distribution of another flour product that will retail at Sh72 per 2-kg bag in the coming days.

“We are still within the time frame of 7 to 10 days announced last Monday and we hope that within the next two days Kenyans will be able to buy cheaper flour. This will be possible since it is an understanding we have with the millers.”

Mr Ruto, who was accompanied by assistant ministers Kareke Mbiuki and Daniel Ndambuki, said that the government was only covering the cost of distribution of the flour. He said that the cost of production was being met by the NCPB and millers on behalf of the government.

The price of maize flour, a staple food for most Kenyans, had skyrocketed to a high of Sh130 attributed to a shortage of maize in the country.

Last December, the commodity was retailing at Sh48 for a 2-kg packet.