While stating Kenya Governments commitment to continuously support farmers and to address the emerging challenges, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Irrigation Mwangi Kiunjuri said he was perplexed on various issues, which have emerged regarding purchase of maize and distribution of fertilizer in the Country.

“We have continued to face challenges which are currently under investigation. For example, last week we had 150 Lorries queuing in our Nakuru Stores, 124 in Eldoret, 150 in Moi’s Bridge, and 35 in Bungoma,Given this situation, I directed the Cereals Board to speed up the process of clearing this backlog” Said the Cabinet Secretary

CS Kiunjuri added that all these trucks had been off-loaded. But subsequently queues have become longer. For example, yesterday we had only 40 trucks lined up in Nakuru. This morning they are 150. In Eldoret they are 174 and 132 in Moi’s Bridge. The question is, where did these lorries come from overnight?

The cabinet secretary says that he has therefore directed our officers to be more stringent in vetting farmers to ensure that the maize being delivered is coming from our genuine farmers.

“It is unfortunate that some unscrupulous individuals and traders have taken advantage of gaps in vetting process to get Maize at cheaper price from our Neighbouring Countries and also access government subsidized fertilizer”says CS adding that adequate measures are being put in place to seal the loopholes.

The Cabinet Secretary announced that The National Government in collaboration with County Governments will ensure that all farmers, especially maize farmers are registered before forthcoming harvest season. The Ministry has already begun training of staff in 6 pilot counties in preparation for online registration of farmers.