By Joy Kyalo
The Ministry of Agriculture has ruled out plans by the Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) to buy maize from farmers this season.
They insisted that the unit that had been disbanded in May has no legal mandate.
The ministry said the cabinet has not discussed the issue and that no funds have been set aside for the exercise.
Further, it maintained that the government will not buy maize from farmers as it had earlier announced, instead leaving the function to the private sector.
“SFR is no longer mandated to buy maize. They do not have government support for this exercise and whoever purports to be chairman, his tenure ended in October last year,” read a statement from the ministry.
This comes just two weeks after SFR in a news conference announced that it has set aside Sh5 billion to buy maize from farmers this season.
SFR, was disbanded through a gazette notice by the Treasury in May after the government directed Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani to discontinue its role.
However, it resurfaced this month after the court stayed the order that had ended its mandate.
