On Tuesday, Members of Parliament directed Cooperatives Principal Secretary Patrick Kilemi to summon his Cabinet Secretary, Simon Chelugui, to appear before the committee after the PS requested additional time to provide answers.
PS Kilemi had been summoned before the Committee on Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives to address concerns regarding delayed payments to dairy and coffee farmers by several cooperatives.
Acknowledging the payment delays to dairy farmers, PS Kilemi highlighted the Ministry's efforts to ensure timely payments, aiming for disbursements by the 5th of each month starting from July 2024.
Concerning coffee farmers, he outlined the Ministry's implementation of a direct settlement system to alleviate delays.
The system was introduced by banks last year as a means of streamlining payment for coffee farmers.
The explanations, however, did not sit well with the legislators who emphasized that the delay did not only affect the Mt Kenya region but across the country.
They demanded a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the strategies to be implemented by the Ministry in solving the issue.
Having been unable to respond to the queries, the PS requested more time to provide detailed responses, which irked the lawmakers.
"You were not adequately prepared for this session. We cannot proceed with this meeting," stated the Committee's Vice Chairperson Marianne Kitany.
Thereafter, Kitany directed the PS to inform the Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui that he must appear in the subsequent session to provide a detailed analysis and plan for the payment delays.
Several farmers have lamented over not receiving their payment for over three months, citing inefficiencies within the government to remit the funds.
For coffee farmers, they sold their produce on the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) and anticipated to be paid in US dollars through the Direct Settlement System. This, however, led to further issues such as unexplained partial payment, settlement of funds to the wrong accounts, unauthorised change of bank accounts among others.
Led by Peter Gikonyo, chairman of the Kenya Coffee Producers Association (KCPA), the farmers called for the government to ensure the settlements were made.
