Busia Woman Rep Florence Mutua has weighed in on the ongoing debate touched off by Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri's discredited attempts to import maize.
Speaking in Opoda Farm in Bondo during a trade fair over the weekend, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) legislator claimed that the plans to flood the Kenyan market with imported maize was a scheme to benefit cartels.
"Why are we importing maize? So that cartels can benefit. (Tunaimport maize kwa nini? Ndio cartels wafaidike, " the Busia Woman Rep said.
Her words add pressure to the Agriculture CS who claimed that there was a deficit in the Strategic Grain Reserve that could only be filled through the importation of maize.
Western Kenya leaders were up in arms against the plans to import maize, arguing that the move would hurt the Kenyan farms.
Maize importation has long been an emotive issue with farmers saying that it opens them up to unfair competition, leading them to sell their stocks at throwaway prices.
According to the beleaguered Agriculture CS, importing maize will go along way in ensuring that the prices of maize do not go through the roof.
Maize is a staple in Kenya consumed in the majority of households in the country.