Nairobi News

Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industrialization, Moses Kuria, has responded to criticism from opposition politician Martha Karua who had earlier chastised the government over maize importation.

Mr Kuria, during an interview in Inooro TV, said there would be no imports of maize adding that he knew before hand of scandals that come with such discussions.

But in driving home his point the CS made refence to the number of votes Ms Kuria, who was Azimio la Umoja presidential run mate, delivered from her backyard duirng the August General Election.

“I would like to inform Martha Karua that she cannot be a prisoner of the past. We want to move forward and I will ensure that the price of maize flour has gone low- lower than the votes she delivered for Raila Odinga in Gichugu Constituency ward,” Mr Kuria said.

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During the August polls, President William Ruto bagged all the parliamentary seats in Karua’s backyard with Azimio la Umoja suffering a resounding defeat at the hands of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

Ms Karua had earlier opined that the maize importation project was a ‘get rich quick medium’ sort to benefit only a few individuals and not solve the food crisis.

“Maize, maize, maize. Source of daily meal for a majority of Kenyans. To wheeler dealers a get rich quick medium, imported often needlessly at the expense of the local farmer. In the grand coalition government as agriculture minister William Ruto was associated with maize scandal. We are now set for season two of the maize scandal… ships docking with consignment of maize before rules of importation are known and when local farmers are harvesting,” she tweeted.

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Maize, Maize, Maize. Source of daily meal for a majority of Kenyans. To wheeler dealers a get rich quick medium, imported often needlessly at the expense of the local farmer. In the grand coalition government as agriculture minister William Ruto was associated with Maize scandal

— Martha Karua SC (@MarthaKarua) November 23, 2022

Mr Kuria had announced that the gazette notice would be out last week adding that traders would be allowed to import genetically modified maize and conventional grain.

But in an interesting turn of events, the consignment arrived in the country even before the official gazette notice had been released to legally allow imports.

However, on Monday, the High Court temporarily suspended the government’s decision to allow importation and distribution of GMOs, pending determination of a second lawsuit filed against the lifting of the ban on GMOs.

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