The traders are buying the 90-kilogramme bag of maize at Sh1,800 from farmers and selling it to the State through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) for Sh3,200 after identifying themselves as growers.
Middlemen have emerged as the biggest beneficiaries of the Sh7 billion State purchase of maize to replenish the strategic food reserve after buying the grain cheaply from farmers.
The traders are buying the 90-kilogramme bag of maize at Sh1,800 from farmers and selling it to the State through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) for Sh3,200 after identifying themselves as growers.
This is happening despite the government’s stern warning of not allowing cartels to benefit from the higher price that is meant to benefit farmers.
The traders have taken advantage of weak vetting at the chiefs’ offices to acquire fake identities as growers. The NCPB demands letters from chiefs indicating that those selling maize to them are farmers.
The NCPB has absolved itself from any blame and said they do not take part in vetting as the task is the responsibility of the agricultural officials in the county governments.
“Our work is just to receive maize that has been delivered and not to do vetting of farmers,” managing director Newton Terer told the Business Daily on phone.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
