Bad maize ‘still in safe custody’

Kenyans need not worry. All the contaminated maize shipped into the port of Mombasa in November last year is still under lock and key... at least according to its handlers.

But the 6,350-tonne consignment is taking up too much space in the silos, and has already attracted a storage charge of over Sh12 million.

On Tuesday, managers at the Grain Bulk Handlers opened the silos to the media as they disputed claims by the Public Health minister, Mrs Beth Mugo, that the maize could not be traced, and that it could be already in the market.

“I do not know the origin of the minister’s claims,” the firm’s finance director, Mr Jon Stokes, told the Nation.

On Monday, Ms Mugo said she had already written to Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), inviting the graft watchdog to investigate how the maize found its way into the market.

But on Tuesday, the National Cereals and Produce Board public relations manager Evans Wasike said the maize was off-loaded after the Kenya Bureau of Standards wrote a letter in January saying it could be used for animal feed.

“Later, Kebs sent another letter instructing that, after further tests, the maize was found to be unfit for human consumption and should be reshipped back to South Africa. “That was long after the consignment had been offloaded,” he said.

Controversy

But a controversy arose after other agencies, among them the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis), the Government Chemist and Polucon Services Kenya Ltd, said the maize was fit for human consumption.

High Court judge Justice Joseph Sergon, sitting in Mombasa on April 8, ruled that it is only Kebs who are authorised by law to do all the analysis, and that their findings cannot be faulted.
The judge delivered the ruling after conflicting reports on the fitness of the maize were presented before the court in a case between NCPB and the shippers.