After it was discovered that there were two separate contracts signed with the millers who supplied the commodity in the one-month period between July 21 and August 17, 2022, the parliamentary investigations into former President Uhuru Kenyatta's Sh4 billion maize flour subsidy program took a new turn.
According to documents provided to the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Animals, the United Grain Millers Association (UGMA) and Cereal Millers Association (CMA), two organizations of millers, signed several contracts for the delivery of maize flour.
The 102 small-scale millers participating in the program were subject to strict obligations under the other contract, which was signed by CMA, which is made up of the 27 largest millers in the nation. The CMA contract did not require them to ensure that the maize flour actually reaches the market.
Mithika Linturi, the cabinet secretary for agriculture, encouraged the MPs to call the officers in charge of the subsidy program during her appearance before the committee yesterday to provide more information about it. "The contract that the Attorney-General allegedly approved is two lines long...
The second one has four lines and states, in part, that millers are not responsible for the price of unga or whether it reaches the consumer or not. I ask that the committee complete its work because I am in a very uncomfortable situation. This is theft of public resources,” Mr Linturi told the committee. The contract signed between the government and CMA through the office of the Attorney-General stipulated that the millers would
"The contract that the Attorney-General allegedly approved is two lines long... The second one has four lines and states, in part, that millers are not responsible for the price of unga or whether it reaches the consumer or not. I ask that the committee complete its work because I am in a very uncomfortable situation. The committee was informed by Mr. Linturi that this was theft of public resources. The CS further questioned the secrecy under which the subsidy programme was implemented and said that the documents concerning the agreement and payment schedule could not be traced at the Ministry of Agriculture.
As a ministry, we made every effort to track down the documents, including the minutes and other specifics of the agreements, but we were unable to do so. They were signed by the National Treasury, which has said it cannot also locate them. We are at a loss on what transpired,” Mr Linturi added.
John Mutunga, the committee's chair, questioned why both groups of millers would be required to sign different contracts while working on the same project.
All those variations may be found in the contracts between the two groups of millers. We are aware that the large-scale millers received complete freedom to supply the maize, and no sanctions were imposed. They evade the accountability of whether the unga reaches the end user and the price at which it reaches the consumer. The large millers were favored, and I'll tell you why: to distribute public funds, claimed Mr. Mutunga, who is also the MP for Tigania West.
Nyando MP Jared Okello pointed to the notion that a government person might have manipulated the contents of the contract to steal public monies.
Last week, lawmakers met with two groups of millers, who complained that they didn't have enough money to run their businesses because they hadn't been paid.CMA is asking the government to pay it Sh2.57 billion while UGMA is owed Sh300 million.
The MPs, on the other hand, are skeptical of the pay demands, pointing out that flour, which was expected to sell for Sh100 for a two-kilo packet, did not reach consumers.
They have accused the millers of working in collusion to embezzle public funds. The committee directed Mr Linturi to provide all contracts pertaining to the subsidy program as well as any other documents for future reference. It is highly unlikely that the millers sat down to
