This archive report was first published on 25 May 2020.
On May 23, 2020, Agriculture CS Peter Munya announced plans to inject Sh1 billion into the miraa sector, following devastating export bans in Europe.
However, miraa farmers and traders have now opposed a decision to commit Sh310 million meant for a credit scheme to a new sacco, the Mwenge Miraa Sacco.
The CS claimed that Sh90 million of the Sh400 million allocated for the credit scheme was spent on administration costs, but critics argue that this is an attempt to undermine the Commodities Fund, an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture.
‘The Commodities Fund is an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and the CS cannot take away its mandate unless he is saying he has lost confidence in an entity under him,’ said Kimathi Munjuri, chairman of the Nyambene Miraa Traders Association.
CS Munya denied claims of a link to Mwenge Sacco or planned exclusion, stating that an individual cannot own a sacco and that there was nothing fishy in the original promoters of the credit society being his allies.
‘I am not there to only implement what others approved but also make my own interventions,’’ Munya said.
He added that they were looking at the best model to get money to farmers without intermediaries, and that the Mwenge Sacco is open to any miraa farmer, with over 10,000 members already.
Farmers are required to pay Sh500 to join.
