Parliament has blamed millers for supplying maize flour past the contract period, further complicating the Sh2.9 billion that the processors say they are owed by the government.
The House Committee on Agriculture said millers might have extended the supply of subsidy flour up to six days, way after the contract between them and the State had been revoked.
However, millers said they were not served with a revocation letter and they only learned of it in social media.
In response, millers said the letter was not addressed to them but meant for Agriculture PS from the Cabinet secretary.
“The letter ending the subsidy was not addressed to us,” millers told the House Committee on Tuesday.
The subsidy programme, which was announced by former President Uhuru Kenyatta on July 20, 2022, was initially to run for an indefinite period.
Crop Development and Agricultural Research Principal Secretary Francis Owino however wrote to some of the millers informing them that the subsidy was ending on August 18, 2022.
Millers said that so far the interest that has accrued from the Sh2.9 billion that the government owes them has hit Sh280 million.
Sabina Chege, a member of the committee said the parliament should be worried over the interest accruing from pending bills.
It is upon the government to make sure that interest does not accrue to ridiculous amounts as we witnessed from the previous subsidy when the government had to pay Sh590 million in interest amounting to delayed payment.
Kenya had in 2017 contracted millers to sell subsidy flour after the prices of the commodity price skyrocketed. However, it delayed for years in clearing their dues.
The House Committee on budget had last month said that it will not approve payment to millers, saying that the government was unable to trace those who benefited from the programme.
However, millers faulted the move by the committee to reject disbursement of their pending amount, terming the move as unfair, given that they had made supplies.
The processors told the committee that there were government officers in each of the milling stations, who verified the amount of flour that was released to the market.
Maize millers said they are struggling to stay in business following the delays in payment as most of them had taken commercial loans to support the subsidy scheme.
The debt, argue the millers, has cut their working capital even as the cost of maize remains high amid diminishing demand for flour.
