We are watching, in real time, the anatomy of a grand procurement scandal unfold. The latest scheme? The duty-free rice importation programme. The sums at stake are staggering: 500,000 metric tons of rice—nearly 40 percent of annual national consumption—worth Sh42 billion, to be shipped in before year-end.
Where does culpability lie? The familiar script is already in play: spread responsibility thinly across multiple actors so no single hand is caught in the till. Is it the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC)? The Ministry of Agriculture? The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA)? This is the classic smokes-and-mirrors game.
