A section of farmers who have been linked to the Sh1.9 billion National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) scandal has come out to defend themselves after they were named among cartels that irregularly benefited from the funds meant for farmers.
Addressing a media briefing in Eldoret town on Friday, the farmers said they bought from other farmers hundreds of bags of maize they supplied to NCPB.
“In December last year, I delivered my maize produce from Moiben at the Eldoret NCPB depot upon which I met farmers who had spent a lot of time on the queue. They asked me to take their maize so that they can pay school fees for their children,” said Victoria Chebet Rotich, a farmer from Moiben.
“What is happening and coming out now is not very clear to us and that is why we insist that we are genuine farmers and not cartels. The name cartel is too big for us. We planted maize and delivered it to the NCPB depots in line with the law,” added another farmer in Paul Kibichi Biego.
The over 100 farmers named in a list of the alleged cartels insists that they went through the vetting process that was conducted by NCPB and Ministry of Agriculture after which they were rightfully allowed to deliver their produce.
They expressed shocked for being termed as cartels saying they only helped other farmers who had financial needs and would not wait in the queues for long.
“What happened is that there were long queues and it took very long for the farmers to deliver the maize to the NCPB depots. People wanted to pay school fees and medical fees among other expenses. So people who had enough finances came to their rescue,” insisted Simon Changoi, a farmer who supplied 58, 000 bags of 50kgs to the NCPB depot in Kisumu.
The farmers now want relevant government agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure all those who irregularly benefited from the funds and dealt with. They also asked politicians not to politicize the matter.