When President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Tanzania recently, part of the discussion with President Pombe Magufuli centred on importation of 1.2 million bags of maize into Kenya. After all, Tanzania is the only neighbour where the country could fetch maize for milling, and at a cheaper price.
After a series of goofs, poor planning and politics, the country is once again staring at a maize crisis. But technocrats and politicians do not seem to agree on what to do. Some fear that another maize scandal seems to be cooking.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri says the country is running low on maize stocks and must import as per the Cabinet’s directive. He has told off those saying there is enough maize. The national Strategic Food Reserve Trust Fund (SFRTF) chairman, Dr Noah Wekesa, says they are holding 760,000 bags of maize which remained after selling 1.2 million bags from the 1.7 million bags they put on sale in May.
This particular stock of 3.4 million bags was procured by former Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe. Although he was later charged in court with irregular purchase of maize at a cost of Sh5.6 billion, it is the same stock Kenya has turned to, to meet the shortfall.
Kenya consumes 60,000 bags of maize per day and requires between, 1.5 and 1.8 million bags per month. Although it requires 52 million bags of maize per year, the highest it has ever produced was 42 million bags in 2015/2016.