CS Fails To Deliver In Despite Ruto’s Ultimatum
CS Fails To Deliver In Despite Ruto’s Ultimatum
CS Fails To Deliver In Despite Ruto’s Ultimatum
Despite an order from President William Ruto, farmers in three counties—Kirinyaga, Nyeri, and Murang’a—continue to encounter obstacles in obtaining the subsidised fertiliser.
The farmers have been camping outside the distribution centers of the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and have expressed their dissatisfaction over not receiving any fertiliser.
Some said that although the distribution centers are empty, they received their notice approximately four days ago to pick up the farming material.
“You have a voucher code xxx for four bags of fertilizer, dear xxx. This voucher has a 30-day expiration date. Kindly proceed to the closest NCPB depot for redemption. One of the messages to the farmers on March 6 said, “Thank you, Ministry of Agriculture.”
They additionally contended that the management of the distribution centers had not provided an explanation for the delay or a plan of action to address the situation.
Some of the farmers are pleading with the government to step in and guarantee the timely distribution of the required material, claiming that the delay will ruin their plans for the planting season.
“I was here at 4 am and it’s now 2 pm and I do not see any signs of getting my bags of fertilisers today. I want to know when I will receive the bags since I already made the payment,” one of the farmers stated.
The farmers called upon the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi to streamline the sector and ensure easy and timely distribution of fertilisers.
These complaints came only a few days after President Ruto directed the Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi and Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh to resolve the menace in different parts of the country.
While speaking in Kericho county, Ruto revealed that he was receiving complaints from farmers across the country over the delayed distribution.
He added that sufficient funding had been set aside by the government to guarantee that fertilizer was available to all farms. The fertilizer was supposed to increase food production, Ruto said, and the delay was impeding this achievement.
“I am aware that the supply of fertilizers is a little bit problematic, but I will solve this issue. I’ll give the PS and the Ministry of Agriculture a week to clean up this mess,” he commanded.
