Posted on June, 21, 2018 at 09:18 am
By Business Daily Editorial
Of all the procurement scandals Kenya has had since Independence, maize transactions have been the most enduring of them all. Hardly a couple of years pass without fresh allegations of theft emerging at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), which manages the grain reserves.
Part of the reason why this situation persists is that we, as a country, have decided to position maize as a national staple unlike our neighbours, who have an array of foods to choose from.
This has proven to be a godsend opportunity for graft cartels, not to mention politicians and bureaucrats.
At the centre of it all has been the government decision to distort the market by subsidising and managing one crop at the expense of everything else
And now in the midst of multiplicity of scams, it is easy to miss the dangers inherent in mismanaging our stores.
In the last few weeks Kenya has been grappling with fresh allegations that 18 companies took off with Sh1 billion after supplying NCPB with maize to the exclusion of real farmers.
So far, the matter has been treated casually indicating that we are headed for more of the same — a situation where the public makes noise and the officialdom responds with pretence of action and then the matter dies off.
Currently, an audit is ongoing at the NCPB to find out if money was lost or whether wrong people were paid. Curiously, as Parliament found out the Auditor-General has not been involved in what could as well turn out to be a large-scale theft or misuse of public funds.
It is instead using own auditors that may not be inclined to expose any rot. The National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee has issued a directive that Auditor-General Edward Ouko audits the expenditure.
Indeed, it is odd that with all the hullabaloo the Kenya National Audit Office has not seized itself on the grave matter. Normally, the office takes time with audits—probably because of the manpower limitations and constitutional reporting deadlines. But on this one they must act fast. Other watchdogs must as well deal with the matter expeditiously. If this does not happen NCPB will remain a skunk.
Source: Business Daily