State House Denies Nyanza Fertilizer Exclusion Claim
Gerald Bitok, the State House director of public communication, has denied the accusations made by National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi. These accusations stated that the government deliberately left out the Nyanza region from receiving the discounted fertilizer.
The communication specialist provided a comprehensive list on Friday, August 11th, outlining the distribution of agricultural resources in the Western region. This encompassed counties such as Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori, and Siaya.
The inventory also indicated the count of vouchers dispatched to the different areas, and Bitok encouraged the farmers to gather and exchange their vouchers at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
As an example, within the first phase of the Homa Bay project, just 1,317 out of the 105,156 farmers who had enrolled in the program utilized their vouchers.
“MP Opiyo Wandayi, a wise man, once said numbers never lie. Seems you are spending little time with your constituent,” Bitok, who was appointed to the role in June 2023, criticized the Ugunja lawmaker.
“The President just launched the short rain’s distribution, and a bag will cost you only Ksh2,500, down from Ksh3,500. Visit your nearest NCPB,” he added.
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Wandayi, who holds the position of Ugunja MP as well, had raised allegations against the Kenya Kwanza government, asserting that they were purposely slowing down the process of notifying registered farmers about collecting the discounted fertilizers from the storage facilities of the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
He additionally asserted that the activation of vouchers was purposely postponed to hinder farmers from obtaining fertilizers with a subsidized cost of Ksh2,500.
The delays were credited by the opposing politician to an alleged political plan by the central government, supposedly designed to compel farmers to depend on the distribution of aid food.
In contrast to Wandayi’s assertions, President Ruto highlighted his government’s commitment to reducing fertilizer costs even more. This is aimed at boosting crop yields, enhancing the availability of agricultural products, and diminishing the prices of essential food commodities.
“In the long rain season, most farmers used one bag of fertilizer per acre. Data shows that if you double the fertilizer per acre, you will get more yield of between 12 and 25 bags of maize,” Ruto stated during the launch of the second phase of the subsidized fertilizer program on August 2, 2023.
“For the coming short rains, the government has embarked on the distribution of fertilizer to farmers throughout the country, to ultimately deliver 2 million 50 kg bags, at a subsidized cost of Ksh2,500,” he added.
State House Denies Nyanza Fertilizer Exclusion Claim
