Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has demanded answers from the Standing Committee on Tourism, Trade, and Industrialisation regarding the rice importation quota granted to a popular mall located in Eastleigh, Nairobi County.
Omtatah claims that the mall was given permission by the government to import 500,000 metric tonnes of rice, which he believes is confusing rice farmers.
In a request submitted to the Senate on Wednesday, July 9, Omtatah questioned the importation quota's legality and transparency, claiming that a large allocation to one private company raises concerns.
''I would like to seek a statement from the committee on the matter that is now a public concern. This development has raised concerns about the impact of this decision on local rice farmers,'' Omtatah said.
According to Omtatah, there was an apparent bypassing of established regulatory institutions such as the Agriculture Food Authority (AFA), which under the Crops Act is mandated to oversee decisions related to food crop imports.
Following the deal that the senator has termed as private, Omtatah wants the committee to address the criteria and policy justification used by the government to allocate the rice importation quota to the mall, including whether the process was competitive and aligned with legal and regulatory frameworks.
Further, the senator wants the committee to outline the role played by the Ministry of Trade in the deal and why the Ministry of Agriculture and AFA were not involved in the matter that falls under their mandate.
The senator also wants AFA to do a complete assessment on the current domestic production and the consumption level of rice in the country, and whether there was a deficit that warranted the extensive importation.
According to the senator, it was suspicious that such a large-scale amount of rice was being imported into the country, yet more than 5,000 tonnes of rice remained uncollected at the Mwea Rice Growers Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
The senator wants the committee to explain the cautionary measures put in place to caution local rice farmers from the adverse effects of such importations, including the budgetary provisions.
Omtatah also raised concerns over the prices of rice, which may be affected by the importation. He asked the committee to answer how they would caution consumers about the prices that may balloon.
The concerns by Omtatah come barely a month after the government promised to cut rice imports by 50 per cent in a bid to support local farmers.
