The government is asking for calm after maize flour prices jumped to Ksh164 for a 2kg packet in April amid reports of an impending fresh price surge of the precious commodity.
Speaking to the press on Monday, May 5, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe denied the claims, stating that the country had sufficient reserves of maize to go around and ensure the unga prices do not go up.
"There should be no panic about the price of unga going up. It is not going to go up. We are going to ensure that it doesn't go up by releasing the strategic maize reserves that we have. We have got strategic reserves," he stated.
In addition to Kagwe's remarks, the government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, announced that the government would be importing 5.5 million bags of yellow maize to help stabilise the price of unga.
According to the CS, the government would also grant a 50 per cent duty waiver on the yellow maize imports for a year.
This importation is part of the government's plan to cushion Kenyans from the rising cost of living by easing pressure on white maize, whose price has risen by 26.47 per cent since December.
"The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development notes the growing competition between animal feed millers and maize millers for human consumption over the limited maize grain stocks available in the country," Kagwe stated last month.
"As a result of this increasing demand, the price of a 90-kilogramme bag of maize has risen by approximately 26 per cent compared to three months ago."
The rise in maize prices has been reflected in the cost of maize flour, with the millers reflecting the charges to consumers.
A Kenya National Bureau of Statistics analysis showed that a two-kilogramme packet of fortified maize flour sold for an average of Sh165.05 in March, a price that was the highest in over a year.
This price rise represents an increase of 2.94 per cent from February and 14.11 per cent from October 2024.
Millers, on the other hand, have blamed the renewed upward price pressure on flour on reduced domestic supplies, forcing them to rely on imports from neighbouring Tanzania.
