It’s worrying that much-hyped cheap ‘unga’ is missing in stores

The launch of the Sh6.5 billion subsidy programme that led to a precipitous drop in the price of a 2kg packet of maize flour from Sh160 to Sh90 was greeted with a huge sigh of relief.

For weeks, Kenyans had paid inflated prices for what is arguably the country’s staple food; ugali.

A debilitating drought that depressed the production of maize had pushed the price of unga through the roof and things were threatening to get out of hand as Kenyans stared at starvation. Due to widespread drought last year, maize production plunged to 39 million bags from 42 million bags in 2015.

And with neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda also ravaged by drought, things could only get worse, with the prospect of food riots growing. Something had to be done. The government stepped in and lifted import duty on maize.

The Government’s three-month subsidy programme is supposed to complement another four-month initiative for the importation of duty-free white maize from Mexico.

Yet, even before the ruckus over the origin of the maize has died down, it has emerged that the unga is nowhere to be found, even in supermarkets.

The commodity, say some supermarket attendants, is flying off the shelves faster than it can be replenished. It is possible that unscrupulous traders are buying the commodity and repackaging it to sell at a profit to unsuspecting consumers.

Indeed, the intermittent shortage and hoarding are characteristic of a price control regime, an unintended consequence.

Indeed, in the dukas and kiosks where residents of Kibera, Mathare, and Kangemi do their shopping, unga is still going at the market rate. Why is that the case despite assurances that cheap unga was abundant? And with threats that those tempted to take advantage of consumers will face dire consequences, it must take the most callous and daring of us to hoard the flour.

So was this yet another case of scattergun approach to issues of grave concern to millions?

Shouldn’t the subsidy programme have been targeted so that the unga reaches the most deserving Kenyans - the poor who spend over half of their income on food?

The Government has to ensure that this noble programme succeeds. Otherwise both the taxpayer (who is footing the bill) and the millions of hungry whom the unga was intended to benefit, will feel cheated yet again by a government that failed to plan in the first place, even after drought warnings were issued.