The cry and protests by maize farmers have been loud, attracting the attention of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who only last year publicly gave a tongue lashing to his Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri to either act, and do so swiftly, or face the consequences over the scandal.
But maize farmers and the consumers can have a sigh of relief following the recent intervention by the President.
Addressing the nation the President assured the country of enough food security in the stores. Accompanied by his Cabinet Secretaries; Mwangi kiunjuri for Agriculture and CS Henry Rotich, he said:
“Currently there is sufficient maize in the market selling @ between Sh 1,700 and Sh 1,800 per 90Kg per bag. With these interventions, I do not expect any changes in the existing price of Unga. I call upon investigative agencies to expedite verification to ensure timely payments.”
He added, “Government interventions & good weather in 2018, have led to a bumper harvest of 46 million bags. 2.5 million bags were also carried over from 2017. The Government will therefore release 1.7 million 90Kg bags of maize @ Sh 1,600 & 300,000 bags of animal feed @ Sh 1,400 per bag.”
https://twitter.com/UKenyatta/status/1083406819656196099
This means the country will not be worried about food in the stores and any inflation on the prices following the President’s directive.