Farmers to stop delivering Maize to NCPB depots, Agriculture CS Kiunjuri says

Farmer Dickson Lekakisio at Murda irrigation scheme in Marigat, Baringo County, on July 4, 2018. [Photo, File]

Farmers will soon stop delivering maize to National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has announced.

Kiunjuri said the ministry would open stores in all maize growing zones where farmers would deliver the produce.

The move, the CS said, is aimed at stopping cartels and thieves from reaping where they never sowed.

Rift Valley farmers have been calling for an overhaul of the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and had urged the CS to carry out an in-depth investigation.

They have also called for disbandment of the board and for all the depots to be put under county governments.

Speaking at a fundraiser at Kalalu Catholic Church in Laikipia County, Kiunjuri said the Government would not allow people who are not farmers to sell maize to NCPB.

“We will open stores and only buy the produce from farmers near their farms to ensure that farmers do not incur losses transporting the same to NCPB, where they queue for two days to deliver maize," the CS added.

He said the ministry would from next week start recruiting new NCPB managers and warned that corrupt officials would be left out.

Kiunjuri said there was a plan to link him to the maize scandal. “I get scared every time the maize issue is mentioned. Some people want to implicate me in this matter yet I only took the docket in February and by then more than Sh7 billion had been paid,” he said.

Kiunjuri said he had given 21 names of individuals who conspired with NCPB officials to deliver ‘air’ to the board's silos.