Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday, March 12, detailed reasons why the government's plans to import duty-free maize into the country had derailed.
Speaking during a joint-media interview at Karen, Nairobi, Gachagua noted that there was stiff competition from East and West African countries in a bid to purchase maize from South Africa.
He added that the government opted out of purchasing maize from Brazil owing to the high costs incurred due to travel expenses.
"Cheap maize is not available anywhere in the world. The only available maize is from South Africa. We are in competition with Angola and Rwanda for the same maize. The maize in Brazil is too expensive to import because of the distance," he stated.
The DP also noted that the government disregarded the direct importation of maize to provide transparency and avoid graft incidences.
He added that those who sought to import duty-free maize had to undergo a fair and transparent application process.
"The Government does not want to import maize directly because we don't want corruption and scandals. We don't want people in Government to get into business."
"We advertised for millers and other people to apply, to get permits to import duty-free maize to bring down the cost of maize flour. Unfortunately, there is no maize almost everywhere in the world," he pointed out.
He also commended efforts from the Kenya Kwanza Administration noting that the prices had dropped from Ksh250 to around Ksh170.
"When we came in, the cost of unga was between Ksh230- Ksh250, at that time there was a subsidy. We have worked very hard and now unga is between Ksh170-Ksh191.
"We decided as a government that subsidising consumption is foolish because it is not sustainable," the DP noted.
Initially, millers lamented that they had been locked out of trying to get import licenses after failing to agree with the government about the landing price for a 90-kilogram bag of maize.
According to the millers, the government sought them to commit to the Ksh4,200 as the fixed price- which they pointed out would lead to them getting losses.
