The agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi announced that the Maize flour prices will be reduced by March 1 this year.
Speaking to the media outlets on Tuesday, January 3, Linturi committed to seeing the Maize flour, currently retailing at over Ksh 200 to be reduced in order to ease the burden on Kenyans.
In a statement, the agriculture Cabinet Secretary explained that the importation of Maize, which had been directed by the government in December 2022, was aimed at fulfilling President William Ruto’s campaign strategies to lower the cost of living.
“I want to commit that by the end of February, the cost of Unga will be reduced as well as that of Rice,” Said Mithika Linturi.
The CS revealed that other food commodities prices including cooking oil will also be reduced with time but failed to disclose the rate at which the products’ pricing will be affected.
Linturi on the other hand also advised Kenyan citizens to invest largely in agriculture explaining that it is the only option for reducing the cost of living in the country.
“If we were all to rely on buying food, assuming that nobody goes to the farm to produce food, we will not eat on the coins or the notes that we all have,” he said.
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Also, the CS added that the insufficient supplies in the market are what pushed the State to Import various commodities from international countries.
Through a Gazette notice dated December 23, 2022, Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u approved the importation of duty-free Maize and Sugar to mitigate the shortage in the market.
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“In light of the notification of an impending food crisis in the country by the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, 600,000 metric tonnes of milled rice may be imported into the country duty-free,” read the notice in part.
The high cost of food prices has also seen Kenyans criticize the Kenya Kwanza regime for failing to fulfil its campaign pledge despite being in office for over 100 days.
