Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Peter Munya has today, August 13, 2022, suspended Ksh100 maize flour subsidy programme.
In a memo, the CS noted that the suspension of the National Maize Flour Subsidy program was a result of inadequate funds from the treasury.
“Due to inadequate exchequer releases from the National Treasury, it has been decided that the Maize Flour Subsidy Program be suspended with immediate effect,” Munya stated.
As a result, Kenyans will now have to dig deeper into their already empty pockets to be able to fend for their families.
The suspension of the subsidy comes barely a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced stimulus measures to cushion citizens against the high cost of living.
As part of the measures, Uhuru, on Wednesday, July 20, announced the reduction of Unga prices following a deal brokered between the government and maize millers.
"This programme of a subsidy of approximately Ksh105 per 2kg pack of maize meal is meant to lower the cost of living for vulnerable households as we look for a sustainable solution to the recurrent rising prices of Unga," Uhuru stated.
The president made the announcement after meeting with millers at the State House.
"This moment requires us to act in unison in order to cushion the vulnerable in our society, as we continue to work out how to find sustainable means of dealing with this emerging trend.
"If my appeal to the millers is to practice a reasoned level of social ethics, my appeal to the political class is to exercise civic responsibility. To politicize the pain of the vulnerable without offering solutions is to mock the lifestyle of the same voters the politicians are appealing to," Uhuru added.
