Posted on November, 5, 2018 at 10:08 am
By AGATHA NGOTHO
Problems at the National Cereals and Produce Board persist, even as the anti-graft agency investigates 152 individuals who were paid money meant for genuine maize farmers.
An NCPB official, who did not want to be named, said corruption at the board is deep-rooted and goes back to its inception.
For example, he said, lorries transporting maize to depots are often weighed once but recorded twice. The official also said a farmer can deliver 100 bags of maize but the receipt shows 200 bags.
However, the farmer still gets paid only for the 100 bags.
"Whatever happens to the other 100 bags is a mystery. Corruption at the cereals board is deep-rooted starting for the depots, regional depots, the board itself and all the way to the ministry level. It’s like corruption has become a way of life," the official told the Star in an interview.
"The whole NCPB system needs an overhaul. The board should just play the role of the Strategic Food Reserve. The selling and buying of maize should be left to counties or millers."
On the NCPB website, a message from the board’s MD states that they strive to offer quality and affordable products and services. But this objective appears have been lost going by how things have been unfolding.
Apart from delayed payments to farmers, there have been reports the NCPB has stored substandard maize for more than six months. The maize has started discolouring.
PLANT GRASS
To date, farmers have not received all the payments. yet the harvesting season in the North Rift is going on and some are still hoarding maize from the last harvest.
Some farmers have said they will not plant maize in the next main season and will instead plant grass, which they say fetches more money.
NCPB acting managing director Albin Sang on Friday said the initial debt was Sh3.5 billion but Treasury released Sh1.4 billion last month. The remaining debt to farmers is Sh2.1 billion, Sang said.
Last month, Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri said two traders were paid Sh13.9 million in June even after the EACC stopped payments to maize farmers pending investigations.
According to documents on pending bills for maize purchase for 2017-18, Antony Kipngetich supplied 10,935 50kg bags to the Kisumu depot and was paid Sh8.2 million on June 26.
Another trader, Isaiah Kipkemei, supplied 13,964, 50kg bags and received Sh5.7 million on June 18, Kiunjuri said.
UNFIT FOR CONSUMPTION
On Wednesday, the Kenya Bureau of Standards told an ad hoc committee on the maize crisis that 66.3 per cent of the produce in some depots is contaminated and unfit for human consumption.
The team is co-chaired by Uasin Gishu senator Margaret Kamar and Bungoma’s Moses Wetang’ula
But Sang disputed this figure and said only 45 per cent is substandard while five per cent of the maize in Makueni depot is toxic and not fit for human consumption.
The substandard maize can be used to manufacture animal feed. Sang said Kalro and Kephis are collecting samples from all depots for testing and the results will be out next week.
Kamar had questioned why Kiunjuri, who had appeared before the Senate, had not disposed of the contaminated maize despite the warning from Kebs. Kiunjuri said he is yet to receive a written communication on the issue.
Kamar told the CS to take immediate action as any delay could lead to loss of more maize and money.
Kiunjuri told the Senate the government will open up aggregated centres where farmers can sell their maize conveniently.
"By next week, we will be gazetting maize-buying centres in the North Rift. We want to start buying maize from farmers but this time we will do it differently to ensure transparency," the CS said.
"We will also be advertising for people to provide maize driers and show the locations to place them."
Wetang’ula urged the CS to clean-up the historic mess at the NCPB, at whatever cost.
DEPOT MANAGEMENT
Industry players have said the only way to get to the root cause of all the problems at the NCPB is to devolve it.
Antony Kioko from the Cereal Growers Association said the board should be disbanded and all the depots be put under the county governments.
"We have an institution that we don’t need, and which has been used as an instrument for corruption by unscrupulous traders. If agriculture has been devolved, the NCPB can also be devolved," East Africa Growers Council CEO Gerald Masila said.
He said counties should be allowed to manage the depots in their areas so that when one county has a shortage of maize, it can get it from a neigbouring county, which has surplus. The rest can be traded within the country, Masila said.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Wednesday, Tiaty MP William Kamket said it is time to think about devolving the agency.
"This will help every region to handle its own issues to avoid having a body that everyone wants to dip their hand into," the MP said.
CONTRACTS
But Sang defended the board, saying the solution to the maize crisis is for them to sign contracts with farmers before buying maize.
"The contracts will have details of the farmer, number of acres and the number of bags of fertiliser required. The county will confirm the details before the NCPB can sign the contract. The contract will also have details of prices and which market the farmer is producing for," Sang said.
"This will help the board to know who is producing what, where and how much so that we don’t go through the same cycle of verifying and vetting farmers as we always do every year."
Source: The Star