Thirteen suppliers who failed the vetting at the locational level delivered maize to Eldoret and Kisumu National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots and were paid more than Sh1 billion, a Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation audit shows.
The audit by head of internal audit unit at the ministry Moses Karanja, which has been submitted to the parliamentary Committee on Agriculture by PS Richard Lesiyampe shows that some farmers had quoted farm sizes that were not realistic in the areas indicated on the forms.
“Yields used on some forms were unrealistic and unachievable. Support documents on the acreage quoted on the forms were unavailable,” the audit reads in part,” he said.
“Information gathered in the field revealed that some chiefs had little knowledge of the suppliers despite the fact they had signed their supply forms.”
It also emerged that some suppliers could not be identified by the chiefs as being genuine farmers in their regions.
At Kisumu depot, five farmers who had supplied 10,000 bags were found to be traders and failed the vetting although Sh130,074,459 had been paid as part of the payment. Total payment due to the five suppliers amounts to Sh286,489,144.
At Nakuru depot, Rongai chief disowned nine out of 18 suppliers who had indicated the administrator in their application for maize purchase form as their witness.
They had supplied the depot maize valued at Sh156,441,643 out of which Sh30,472,892 had been paid, hence outstanding balance of Sh125,968,750.
At Bungoma depot, 19 traders who supplied maize were paid a whopping Sh534,055,397.
However, the ministry audit indicates that some individuals who had supplied maize to the depot did not fill the supply forms.
“Most of the suppliers were from neighbouring counties and some had also delivered large quantities to other depots including Mois Bridge. The records available at the depot were inconsistent and the retrieval was noted to be poor,” reads the audit report.
The audit has proposed that due to the outcome of the vetting of farmers in North and South Rift regions only amount of Sh3,049,866,608 be considered for payment.
Farmers are still demanding close to Sh4 billion for produce delivered to the NCPB stores.
The board suspended buying of maize two months ago after it exhausted the Sh7.1 billion to buy 2.4 million bags of maize to replenish the Strategic Grains Reserve.
North Rift leaders have demanded an independent audit to establish all maize deliveries made to the NCPB depots. They also want the audit to reveal the names of those who made the deliveries.
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