Maize millers face shortage as State seeks 6 million bags

Despite the PS denying that brokers receive preference, one of the millers officially complained over a month ago about the same. We learnt that some large operators have been dealing with powerful brokers for sometime now.

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• Let’s manage grains prudently

A letter written by breakfast cereals giant Proctor & Allan (East Africa) to the managing director of the NCPB notes that despite the use of public funds in purchasing maize, the board was denying them the commodity.

“We write with regard to our letter dated October 16, 2008 requesting for approval to purchase some 5,000 bags of maize. We have made several visits to follow up on the same with no success,” says a letter written by production manager Z Muli, seen by the Sunday Nation.

Food relief

The company, which also produces domestic flour used for making porridge in the low-income urban areas, says some of the customers to whom the extra cost is to be passed on are already targets for food relief.

Mr Maritim said the mandate of the board is to ensure availability of food to Kenyans, which it is fulfilling. However, we reliably learnt that the complaint was received on October 31 by NCPB but, as we went to press, the parastatal was yet to respond to the letter.

“We therefore request your intervention and grant us approval for purchase of 10,000 bags of maize,” the firm wrote as its deficit rose.

“Between January and August this year, we have purchased 1,685 tonnes of maize directly from you and we cannot understand the rationale of forcing us to buy from middlemen,” Proctor & Allan wrote to the NCPB boss.

Mr Maritim admitted that the board is controlling the flow of maize and suggested that millers would want to stockpile as much as possible as the situation remains unpredictable.

While still insisting they have a list of millers (who are never denied maize), on the brokers he said: “There are people who go to millers and offer to buy for them. It is obvious someone would want to cash in.”

Rent seeking

Clearly, whatever explanation is offered for the existence of brokers, it is hard to fathom why huge millers with procurement departments would want to engage middlemen. It obviously creates room for rent-seeking. Dr Kiome, nevertheless, insisted no one was getting the maize.

If NCPB continues to withhold maize, and the farmers don’t release theirs--if indeed they have significant stocks--Kenyans will be in for a holiday shock.

Luckily, wheat production globally is on the rise, which may offer some reprieve to consumers.

For millers faced with high fuel, road infrastructure and electricity costs, it might be a matter of time before they respond to the scarcity in core raw material. In the meanwhile, they find it hard to comprehend the short supply.