The government says the prices of maize flour have started coming down, signalling a relief to the high cost of living affecting a majority of Kenyans.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said on Monday, April 17, that the cost of a 2-kilogram packet of Unga has dropped to Ksh159 and Ksh160, depending on the millers.
Mohamed noted that the drop in the prices follows President William Ruto's promise over the weekend that the cost of the commodity would drop significantly starting this week.
According to Mohamed, a 2 kg packet of Unga was retailing at approximately Ksh230, when the Kenya Kwanza administration took over the reins.
"Unga prices have started going down just as President @WilliamsRuto had assured Kenyans over the weekend. Prices have dropped to Ksh159 and Ksh 160, depending on the millers. When the President assumed office last year, a 2kg packet was retailing at approximately Ksh230," Mohamed said.
Unga prices have started going down just as President @WilliamsRuto had assured Kenyans over the weekend. Prices have dropped to Ksh159 and Ksh 160, depending on the millers. When the President assumed office last year, a 2kg packet was retailing at approximately Ksh230. pic.twitter.com/x81FSaK4Zg
— Hussein Mohamed, MBS. (@HusseinMohamedg) April 17, 2023
President Ruto on Friday said the government was committed to addressing the high cost of living in the country.
Speaking in Mavoko in Machakos County, where he commissioned a Ksh2.7 billion water project, Ruto disclosed that the prices of Unga would come down after the arrival of imported maize.
“I am aware that we still have a problem with the cost of living. We agreed that we have to address the problem of maize flour. The most sustainable way of addressing the cost of maize flour is to address the cost of farm inputs. Already, I have registered 5 million farmers and offered them 6 million bags of affordable fertilisers," Ruto told residents.
"They are busy at the farms so that we produce food and end the food shortage. But as we wait for the maize at the farms, I have made plans to import maize. The imported maize will be in the country by tomorrow. Starting next week the cost of maize of flour will start coming down."
The cost of Unga shot to an all-time high last year after President Ruto scrapped subsidies put in place by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Despite protests from the opposition, Ruto said his administration would invest in producers, terming subsidies on consumption and fuel as unsustainable.
"We are not going to be subsidizing consumption. That is why we are going slow on the matter of subsidizing consumption. We are going to work and support producers," The President said while addressing a Kenya Kwanza parliamentary group meeting in Naivasha in September last year.
"The Unga subsidy that was done, I was being briefed by the Ministry of Agriculture for one month, the taxpayer was asked to pay Ksh7 billion for the Unga that cost Ksh100 which was nowhere in the first place. Only a few people laid hold of it. If we had spent Ksh7 billion shillings in fertilizer it would have been a different ball game." he added.
