This archive report was first published on 29 July 2019.
On July 29, 2019, Tanzania's President John Magufuli made a surprise announcement in Dar es Salaam, stating that the country would sell maize flour to Kenya instead of grains, as previously agreed upon during President Uhuru Kenyatta's visit to Tanzania earlier that month.
The decision comes as a relief to Tanzanian traders who had accused Kenyan authorities of laxity in clearing maize consignments at the Holili-Taveta border crossing, causing delays and stranding truck drivers in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa.
President Magufuli has ordered the military to buy maize from farmers for milling, and the permanent secretary in Tanzania's Ministry of Agriculture, Mathew Mtigumwe, stated, "We have grains in stock that are as old as one-and-a-half years. We shall allow Kenyans to choose the best, then process it at competitive rates and assist in transporting the flour."
The shift in Tanzania's stance on maize trade has put a spin in the maize politics in Kenya, where the government had opened a window to allow millers and traders to import 12.5 million bags to cover a shortfall.
