One family was paid almost half a billion in the NCPB scam

Paul Kipyegon Marus at his Tuigoin farm in Trans Nzoia inspects his large tract of land and some of the bags that are still in his stores in an attempt to prove that he cultivated and sold his own maize. He wants the state to strike out his name from the list.

?Two sisters and a brother took home the bulk of the controversial National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) payments, an audit report from the Ministry of Agriculture shows.

In the report in the possession of the Saturday Standard, the three had delivered maize worth Sh637 million to the NCPB depots in Eldoret and Kisumu and had already been paid Sh431 milllion.

Celestine Chepchirchir, Caroline Chepchumba and Rodney Kimutai were paid Sh333 million, Sh96 million and Sh2.2 million, respectively, according to the audit which showed their status as traders and not farmers.

The three are among tens of farmers paid Sh5.2 billion and are still owed another Sh3.4 billion in what National Assembly Public Accounts Committee vice chair Jessica Mbalu yesterday described as an unfolding big scam.

Speaking yesterday during the graduation ceremony of St Paul’s Teachers Training College Nyabururu in Kisii County, Deputy President William Ruto asked the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to move fast and bring the suspects to book.

Ruto said tough action will be taken against those culpable in the National Youth Service (NYS) and NCPB scandals.

He asked the Agriculture Ministry to explain to Kenyans not just how much money had been lost but how the money meant for farmers ended up in the hands of brokers and businessmen.

“How can one supply more than 200,000 bags to the National Cereals and Produce Board yet he or she has no land? Such a question needs an honest answer,” Ruto said.

Mbalu said there were indications that rules were flouted by those involved in the acquisition, keeping and sale of maize in NCPB stores.

“There is a clear problem, we have asked for documentations for the purchase and sale of maize but no one seems to have a clear answer. Worse still, we are told that some of the cereals were destroyed, no one seems to verify where and when this happened,” said Mbalu.

She said failure by those in charge to follow procedures and keep records smacked of corruption that has been ongoing. The PAC is following up the matter and Ms Mbalu said they will get to the root cause of the scam.

No wrongdoing

“The matter pointed to fraud and without thorough investigations, there is no telling whether all the maize to be paid for was supplied or some payments were for fictitious deliveries,” she said.

But as the accusations flew, maize suppliers came out to defend themselves of any wrongdoing, saying they have been both farmers and maize traders for a long time.

Victoria Rotich, the mother of Chepchirchir, Chepchumba and Kimutai, said they are genuine farmers and traders who have been engaged in the business for many years.

“I started maize business in 1982, but even then I was farming. I have built our profiles for three decades, and I’m open for any questions on the current matter because I have nothing to hide,” said Mrs Rotich.

She said she was getting old and was inducting her children to the business.

“I delivered part of the maize from the 1,600 acres I tilled last year, then as a businessperson, farmers who had lined up for weeks as they waited to get to the stores approached me and I started buying their maize because many needed money for school fees and other commitments,” she said.

Rotich says the profile she had built allowed her to acquire Sh110 million from Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and another Sh30 million from Oriental Bank, which she used to acquire maize from the farmers. She says she then delivered the maize to the depots through her children.

“The government should investigate those who brought hundreds of lorries with maize whose origins were not clear. We know each other here as farmers and traders, they should investigate other people,” she said.

Kimutai, one of her children, said he harvested part of the 9,000 bags he supplied to the NCPB from 500 acres of land he had leased in Uasin Gishu County.

Speaking separately, Paul Marus, Paul Biego and Stephen Maiyo absolved themselves from the ‘cartels’ tag, accusing the ministry of fixing them yet they are genuine farmers who had delivered maize harvested from their farms.

Mr Biego said he is a farmer in Nandi and Uasin Gishu counties and wondered why he was grouped among individuals who failed the vetting exercise, yet he was cleared by the ministry to deliver his maize.

He said he delivered 10,169 bags to the NCPB from December and was paid Sh18 million for produce he cultivated in his 200-acre farm.

Biego said he is yet to be paid over Sh4 million for a second batch of supplies amounting to 1,348 bags.

Marus said he was shocked that he had been mentioned in connection with the maize scam.

He is said to have delivered 14,735 bags to the NCPB depot in Eldoret despite having failed in the vetting process.

But Marus says all the maize was from his 1,400-acre farm, which stretches from Tuigoin in Trans Nzoia County to Moiben in Uasin Gishu County.

Marus and Biego are on a list of 18 people named in a report tabled before the (PAC) by Agriculture Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe on Thursday.

Maiyo said he supplied 104,000 bags from his farm and was yet to be paid his full dues. He wondered why he was being “targeted”.  

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