Pressure continued to mount on embattled Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri on Saturday as Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga waded into the raging maize debate.
Speaking at the OPoda Farm in Bondo, the veteran opposition leader told off Kiunjuri, saying that it was the wrong time for anyone to think about flooding the Kenyan market with imported maize.
Mr Odinga branded those pushing for the importation of maize as thugs.
"We know these are the schemes of those thugs and we are saying no. You can take that behaviour to another place not here. (Hii tunajua ni ile ukorofi ya wale majangili, tunasema hapana. Hio mambo mpeleke mahali ingine sio hapa kwetu.)," the ODM leader said.
The former prime minister contended that the harvesting season was near and there was no need to import maize as doing so would endanger the local farmers.
Kiunjuri had called for the importation of maize touching off and outcry from Western Kenya leaders who called for his resignation.
His assessment was in sharp contrast to that of the chairman of the Strategic Food Reserve Board Noah Wekesa who said that there was no deficit to warrant the importation of maize.
A parliamentary committee on agriculture summoned him last week to field questions.