Insurer pays cereals board for bad grain

The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has received compensation for the 6,254 metric tonnes of contaminated maize shipped back to South Africa last year.

The board received the money from the insurers of the consignment, Cannon Assurance Company, according to public relations manager Evans Wasike.

“We were paid Sh213 million for the maize, which was damaged at Maputo port following an explosion in one of MV Fonarun Naree’s hatches,” Mr Wasike said.

The maize was part of 14,000 tonnes that had been imported into the country. The maize was at the centre of controversy for over five months early last year, with Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) declaring it unfit for human consumption while other independent analysts claimed it was edible.

Among other agencies involved in the analysis were Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis), the Government Chemist and private inspectorate firms Intertek and Polucon Services Kenya Ltd.

Meanwhile, NCPB has imported 15,000 tonnes of diamonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer and 6,000 tonnes of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), Mr Wasike said.

Offloaded

The fertiliser has already been offloaded and will be distributed to various areas. The government, in a bid to control skyrocketing prices of the crucial farm input that had reached Sh6,000 for a 50kg bag in 2008, started importing subsidised fertiliser, bringing prices down to an average of Sh2,000.