Ministry takes drastic measure to address delayed maize delivery

President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered top Agriculture and Transport ministry officials to explain the shortage of subsidised maize flour in some counties.

Sources today said that the senior officials were on Friday evening summoned to State House over inconsistencies in accessibility of the flour.

The President, who interrupted his campaign schedule in Rift Valley to travel back to Nairobi for a campaign fundraiser, instructed Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett (Agriculture) and Transport Principal Secretary Paul Mwangi to ensure the subsidised maize flour reaches all parts of the country.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia did not attend the meeting, having lost his father last week.

Also summoned to the State House meeting were those involved in the importation, milling and supply of the staple.

DELAYS IN DELIVERY

During the campaign tours, the President and his deputy have been met with complaints from Kenyans who say they have never seen the 2kg Sh90 packet of flour.

On Sunday, Mr Macharia said the ministry cleared the weighbridges on Thursday at Mariakani and Mlolongo to allow trucks to deliver maize in Nairobi without any delays.

“For 12 hours, we shut down all weighbridges to ensure that the trucks carrying the maize from Mombasa arrive in Nairobi without hitches,” he said on the telephone.

HOARDERS
Millers have been accused of hoarding the subsidised maize in the hope of making a killing when the importation window is shut in August.

A summary of the maize distribution programme seen by the Nation indicates that the millers had requested for 980,014 bags of maize (50kgs each) and had been supplied with 707,156.

Mombasa Maize Millers received the lion’s share of the supply, getting about 300,000 bags, followed by Pembe Flour Mills Millers (about 180,000) and Kitui Flour Mills (50,000).

Other millers who have benefited are Kabansora Millers, Karibu Flour Mills, Alpha Grain Millers, Nairobi Flour Mills, Gold Leaf Kenya Ltd and Malindi Flour Millers.

Others are Maize Milling Company, Eldoret Grain Millers, Jamii Milling, Capwell Industries, Kitale Industries, United Millers, Osho Grain Millers, Eastern F Mills, Alpha Grain Millers, Kenbrast and Manyani Prison.

RETAILERS
Mombasa Maize Millers Director Mohammed Islam said no one was hoarding any maize, adding: “We do not have anywhere we can hide the commodity because we take it from the grain bulk under supervision of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, CID officers and the county government officials.”

“We take the maize for grinding under supervision, how are we able to do the hoarding. We usually have to make our returns on a daily basis. Police should carry out their investigations and see where the shortfalls are,” Mr Islam said.

Some millers have accused wholesalers and retailers of causing the shortage in a majority of the counties.

UNGA REVOLUTION
The unga crisis has become an election campaign issue with the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) saying the shortage was reason enough to kick out of power the Jubilee government.

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has called for an “unga revolution” and asked Kenyans not to pay for the flour.

In May, the government announced a Sh6 billion maize subsidy to lower the cost of flour to Sh90 for a two-kilogramme packet to ease inflationary pressure.

Mr Bett said the temporary intervention would continue until local production stabilises and stocks normalise around the country.