Senators query subsidised fertiliser prices amidst depreciating dollar
Source: Capital FM Kenya
Author: Irene Mwangi
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 12 - Senators poked holes in the government fertilizer subsidy program insisting the government is hoodwinking farmers in the guise of subsidizing production.
Legislators questioned why the government subsidy was selling fertilizer at Sh2,500 since last year yet the international prices of the essential farming commodity had dropped.
Nyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga emphasized that the cost of fertilizer ought to be reduced by Sh300 given the depreciating dollar in recent months.
"Given that the dollar has gone down as well as international prices why is it not possible to reduce the cost to align with government agenda on bringing the cost of living down," Wamatinga remarked.
Mandera Senator Mohammed Chute averred that there is no fertilizer subsidy in the country alluding that the current program is a ploy to enrich few cartels in the government.
"Prices of the fertilizer on the international market have gone down upto 60 percent. The dollar has gone down, do you feel the Sh 2500 is still a subsidized price," Chute stated.
Appearing before Senate Committee on Agriculture to shed light on the claims of fake fertilizer distribution under the government subsidy program, Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi explained the fertilizer had been purchased when international prices had increased.
"if we had a luxury of more commodities in the market then we can be able to dictate.The Russia-Ukraine had disrupted supply chain which leads to time wastage," he said.
This comes even as farmers who bought substandard fertilizer are set to face losses as CS Linturi remained non-committal on the compensation framework of farmers despite President William Ruto's directive on the matter.
CS Linturi mentioned farmers will be compensated with top dressing fertilizer at an additional fee.
"We want farmers who took the substandard fertilizer to take back the fertilizer they took then we will rework the money we haven't paid to KEL Chemicals,"
"If we can recover that expense will all the money, we owe the company we will give them for free. If it doesn't meet then we will work a formula to see whether they will pick the fertilizer at a lower cost," he said.
Sentiments which irked Senators who demanded that farmers should be compensated with top dressing fertilizer with no additional fee as both fertilizer cost Sh 2500.
The lawmakers questioned the compensation framework if at all farmers will be forced to buy the top-dressing fertilizer from National Cereal Produce Board (NCPB) at an additional cost.
"The President was very clear that farmers should be compensated. Compensation cannot come at an extra cost. Who will benefit from this extra cost they are paying yet they were given substandard fertilizer," said the chair of the committee, James Murango.
Details emerged that KEL Chemicals, the firm that sold substandard fertilizer, dispatched 69,070 bags to the NCPB stores.
NCPB Managing Director Joseph Kimote told senators that they sold 64,374 bags of fertilizer on behalf the firm with Sh 170 Million funds remitted to the firm within days.
Linturi said his Ministry has no additional budget to compensate farmers hence they will bear the additional cost should the remaining monies owed to KEL Chemical fall short of the total compensation.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture only 3000 bags of fertilizer were substandard but a spot check by senators showed a possibility of extra bags.
In Nandi and Embu Counties alone, a total of 4,680 bags of fertilizer were substandard despite assertion by CS Linturi that only 3000 bags didn't meet the necessary parameters.
"We are not going to pay the remaining monies for KEL Chemicals until investigation are concluded. There's no cause for alarm until the investigation are done," the Agriculture CS said.
Senators queried how substandard fertilizer was dispatched to NCPB stores with the government realizing substandard fertilizer distribution after farmers bought the farming product.
"Before we commenced the distribution, we were conceived that all the firms had met the standard. We did all due diligence, the firms had been in the market for a long period of time," Kimote stated.
Kimote stated that the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) had ascertained KEL Chemicals had compiled with all the requirements.
Kimote insisted NCPB has no quality assurance mechanism only a batch of the certified fertilizer had failed the necessary requirement test saying the firm should face the blame for the erroneous mistake.
"If they are issues with the standard, it's the prerogative of the manufacturers to take into account. Our quality assurance doesn't have the capacity. We rely on other government agencies,"