Revealed: Maize stored in Silos unfit for Human consumption

Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri when he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Maize crisis at Parliament on Tuesday 30/10/18. [Photo: Boniface Okendo,Standard]

Four million bags of maize stored in National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots is unfit for consumption.

Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), the agency in charge of setting safety standards, revealed that the maize currently stored in various silos countrywide was sub-standard and unfit for consumption. This means the country could have lost about Sh7.6 billion to procure the maize.

Henry Rotich, a senior Kebs manager, said 254 samples were tested with only 94 complying with the safety measures.

“Our report is true and we stand by it. The discoloured maize with other defects and not contaminated with ‘mycotoxins’ is fit for animal feeds and will be sold to manufacturers and other uses once approved by the SFR oversight board,” said Dr Rotich.

The Senate’s ad hoc committee on the maize crisis, chaired by Uasin Gishu Senator Margaret Kamar, yesterday heard that the maize that was discoloured and contaminated with ‘mycotoxins’ and ‘fumonisin’, was part of the six million 90-kilo bags the Government bought during last year’s harvesting season to replenish its Strategic Food Reserves.

The revelation comes as Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri, who appeared before the committee yesterday, said more than 4.4 million bags of white maize were dumped in the country illegally during the subsidy programme last year.

In February last year, the Government moved in to cushion the public from inflated prices of flour and other maize products after it declared drought a national disaster.

The duty waiver period was to last four months from May 2, when the gazette notice was made.

Prof Kamar urged Mr Kiunjuri to deal with the situation or risk Kenyans consuming contaminated food. “I would have been happier if NCPB, through its quality assurance department, acted on the KEBS letter. What is in the stores in Eldoret is a mixture of what was bought from farmers and imports,” said Kamar.

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula, the vice chair of the committee, asked Kiunjuri to act firmly.

“If I were you, I would buy a steel broom and sweep all the corners, thereafter cause an audit of the operations at the NCPB. By now you should have cleaned the house and asked for funds from the Treasury to undertake audit,” said Wetang’ula.