Farmers reel as criminals exploit govt maize scheme

The plan was meant to offer millions of Kenyans a lifeline in the face of a biting food shortage last year.

But when drought was declared a national disaster, allowing for duty-free maize imports as well as enhanced payments to farmers, the scheme fell prey to corrupt forces.

The criminals have made a mockery of the Sh33 billion, excluding foregone tax, that the government ploughed into the maize industry in just a year as farmers went unpaid since their dues were used to settle deliveries made by traders.

Worse still, most of the imported maize — more than four million bags — has been declared unfit for human consumption, while another 750,000 bags have been destroyed by weevils.

RESIGN

It is the kind of silent and systemic plunder that makes mega scandals at the National Youth Service, Kenya Pipeline and the Government Advertising Agency look like child’s play.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has braved calls to resign, saying he would do so if implicated in any of the maize-related scandals.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the government wanted to buy two million bags of maize at Sh6 billion before the harvest.

Further assessments, however, showed a need to add another four million bags of imports.

Although the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) started receiving maize from farmers in October 2017, the purchase was stopped in April 2018 when malpractices were noted in the system.

Traders were posing as farmers supplying maize to the board.

IMPOSTERS

At the time the scheme was discontinued, NCPB had bought 3,626,973 bags from 12,287 farmers at a cost of Sh11.63 billion. Some Sh8.053 billion had been paid to suppliers.

Kenya Revenue Authority says about 1.1 million tonnes of maize with a tax implication of Sh16.75 billion was imported during the 2017 duty-free window.

White and yellow maize was imported from the EAC/Comesa regions as well as Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Ethiopia, the US, Mozambique, Ukraine among other countries.

Maize from the region does not ordinarily attract duty.

The decision to import maize was triggered by President Uhuru Kenyatta through an executive order that exempted maize from all duty chargeable through Gazette Notice 3575.

The notice listed companies that were allowed to import yellow maize and their quotas.

IMPORTERS

Yellow maize amounting to 387,000 tonnes was imported for the manufacture of animal feeds and distributed to 22 companies.

However, there was no restriction on who could import white maize and in what quantities.

A total of 844,218 tonnes of white maize, with a duty remission of Sh13.4 billion, was imported from outside the region.

Some 387,000 tonnes of yellow maize was also imported, costing the taxpayer Sh1.6 billion in duty.

Besides the duty, the taxpayer bought the maize at Sh3,600 per bag compared to the Sh3,200 that farmers are still asking for.

UNHEALTHY

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has confirmed that most of the imported maize in NCPB stores is mouldy and toxic.

Kebs told the Senate committee investigating the scandal that the maize is contaminated with mycotoxins and fumonisin, meaning it cannot even be made into animal feed.

Mr Kiunjuri said another 4.4 million bags of white maize was imported illegally during last year’s duty-waiver period.