Posted on August, 14, 2018 at 10:29 am
Maize farmers will start receiving payment from Friday after vetting of growers who supplied the grain to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) is completed.
The vetting follows the Treasury’s release of Sh1.4 billion early this month to clear part of the Sh3.5 billion owed to farmers who sold their grain to the board in the five months to March.
“The process of verifying farmers has started today (Monday) and we expect by Friday to have started paying them,” said Eugene Wamalwa, Cabinet Secretary for Devolution, at a news conference yesterday. Mr Wamalwa said the payment will take 21 days.
Farmers have been demanding their dues on maize delivered between last October and March 2018.
The government embarked on vetting farmers in April after discovering that unscrupulous traders had imported cheap grain from Uganda and supplied it to NCPB to benefit from the Sh3,200 offered per 90 kilo bag. Last week,NCPB officials said they were waiting for the funds to be wired from the Ministry of Devolution to pay farmers.
Meanwhile, Mr Wamalwa said they will request for more funds to pay transporters who ferried the grain on behalf of NCPB. They want about Sh1.5 billion from the government.
The transporters protested Monday at the NCPB headquarters in Nairobi demanding their dues. NCPB has been buying maize on behalf of the government under the strategic food reserve programme. The grain is used to supplement millers in times of shortages to tame the cost of flour.
Source: Business Daily