Two governors from the maize growing counties in the North Rift region now claim the government announced new maize prices without consulting them.
The two, Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu) and Patrick Khaemba (Trans Nzoia) who were recently appointed to the maize crisis taskforce say they will contest the new price and seek for an increase.
This is after the Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) board announced that it will be buying a 90-kilogram bag of maize from farmers at Sh2,300 down from the previous price of Sh3,200.
Speaking to the press in Eldoret on Monday, Mandago and Khaemba said the prices does not reward a farmer based on the cost incurred.
They termed the announcement as an upfront to the appointment to the task force which was to among other things agree on the maize prices.
“When we were in the meeting Strategic Food Reserve announced that they will buy maize at Sh2,100, I and governor Khaemba disputed the figure and we proposed the worst to be Sh2,500,” said governor Mandago.
“Farmers should know that we are not part of the new price and since we are in the taskforce we are going to dispute the prices,” he added.
Governor Khaemba on his part said with a 90-kilogram bag selling at Sh2,300, farmers will be making minimal profits.
“We don’t see the reason of us remaining in the taskforce if things are happening without our input and consultation. We will talk to the minister to know if we will still remain in the task force,” he said.
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