Members of Parliament were on Wednesday, March 22, how Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta oversaw the awarding and execution of the controversial maize import subsidy.
National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock received two sets of contracts that were signed by the millers who supplied maize under the Ksh4 billion subsidy arrangement.
Cereal Millers Association (CMA) and United Grain Millers Association (UGMA) signed different contractual obligations and supplied maize flour between July 21 and August 17, 2022.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi did not hold back in exposing what he termed as procurement flaws in Uhuru's administration.
“The contract that is purported to have been approved by the Attorney-General is two lines. The other one is four lines and it goes to the extent of saying that the millers shall not be held accountable for the price of unga and whether the unga reaches the consumer or not.
"I am in a very awkward position and I request that the committee does its work. This is theft of public resources,” Linturi told the committee.
The first copy of contract that was signed by the Cereal Millers Association incorporated twenty-seven milliers which was not to ensure the maize flour gets to the market.
In fact, the contract that CMA signed with the Attorney General stipulated that the millers would not be held responsible if the maize flour failed to reach consumers.
However, former President Uhuru's government outlined tougher conditions for small-scale millers under the umbrella of UGMA, whose contracts demanded that they ensure direct distribution of the maize across the country.
Linturi also revealed that he was unable to trace the documents concerning the agreement and payment schedule.
“We did our best as a ministry to trace the documents, including the minutes and other details of the agreements but we could not locate them. They were signed by the National Treasury, which has said it cannot also locate them. We are at a loss on what transpired,” Linturi added.
Cereal Millers Association is currently demanding payment of around Ksh2.57 billion while UGMA which is made up of 107 millers is asking for Ksh300 million.
