HIGH COURT STOPS KENYA – ZAMBIA MAIZE DEAL
By Correspondent Reporter
THE High Court of Kenya has temporarily suspended the decision by the Kenyan government to contract Zambian farmers to grow maize for exclusive export to Kenya.
High Court Judge Mugure Thande issued the order stopping Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi from moving on with the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Kenya and Zambia, to produce maize in Zambia for export to Kenya.
The suit filed by the Farmers’ Party argued that the decision was a dereliction of duty by the government.
Linturi has declined to comment on the ruling and maintained that the country has sufficient food reserves to cushion Kenyans in the coming months.
Early last month while on a working visit to Zambia, Linturi announced to the nation that he had penned an MoU with his Zambian counterpart, an understanding that would see Kenyan farmers allocated 20,000 hectares of land for large-scale farming.
Linturi said the maize would be grown exclusively for export to Kenya to help the country fight the worsening food situation in the country.
“The Zambian got is willing to collaborate with us to give us support to make sure the cost of food comes down, the minister has confirmed he is willing to join us with large-scale farmers in Zambia to grow maize for export to Kenya,” he said on March 7, 2023.
However, cracks began to emerge in that deal early this week when the Zambian Ministry for Agriculture appeared to u-turn after pressure from citizens who condemned the move.
Zambia is also facing food shortage after it exported most of its maize to the Kenya, Burundi and the DRC.
On Friday, the high court in Nairobi added salt to injury, applying brakes on the implementation of the memorandum, following a suit by the Farmers’ Party of Kenya.
Filed under a certificate of urgency, the party avers that the decision by the government of Kenya to contract Zambian farmers was irrational, illegal and in gross violation of the Constitution of Kenya.
High Court judge Mugure Thande issued the order saying in part, “After considering the principles for grant of conservatory orders at the ex-parte stage, I find that the orders sought in the application are merited.”
“The situation has been stabilised by the imports that we allowed and I expect it to get better. In another few weeks when the maize we had ordered comes into the country the price will get to below the 180,” CS Linturi said.
The Farmers Party, which is led by former Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera, argues in the lawsuit that the government should support local Kenyan farmers to produce food because agriculture is the backbone of the Kenyan economy.
“After considering the principles for grant of conservatory orders at the ex-parte stage, I find that the orders sought in the application are merited,” the judge ruled.
The case will be mentioned on May 16.