Moses Kuria, the Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Industry, and Investment, has issued a 72-hour deadline for hoarding maize farmers to deliver their crop or face losing out.
The farmers had until Tuesday to release the maize before a Cabinet meeting that will decide whether or not to import the product, according to Kuria, who was speaking over the weekend in Trans Nzoia County.
The CS stated that he was pleased that some farmers had already begun releasing maize while making it clear that the government had not yet signed any documents allowing the importation of maize.
The CS also cautioned farmers against hoarding the product because it might get stuck in their stores.
He said that 15 million bags of corn were going to run out in the near future, according to information provided by the government.
If the farmers release the corn they are hoarding, according to Kuria, the government won’t spend any money importing maize; however, if they don’t, the government will import and lose money.
