Daniel Nyassy
12 October 2009
Nairobi — About 238 bags of highly toxic maize have disappeared from stores at the Bura Irrigation and Settlement Scheme in a case that is pitting the WFP against farmers in the region.
Fears abound that the maize may have been stolen and found its way into the market.
But the circumstances under which the consignment disappeared from the National Irrigation Board (NIB) godown at Bura are puzzling, and so are the stunning tales from the farmers.
The aflatoxin levels in the missing maize are quite high, and is a real threat to human life. The dangerous maize is said to be on sale in parts of Garissa and Mwingi towns.
Our two days camping at Bura over the weekend revealed that the issue has put World Food Programme (WFP) at the centre of the saga with farmers accusing the international organization of an underhand deal to deny them cash.
The manager, Bura Irrigation and Settlement Scheme (BISS) Mr Ben Masawe, declined to comment on the issue, terming it as "very sensitive".
"Our job was to facilitate the farmers with the land and how to take care of the crop. After harvesting, we had nothing to do with it. Whether the maize was toxic or where they sold it, it's not our problem," he said and referred Nation to the District Commissioner Mr Reuben Loyotanan and the Bura Farmers Cooperative Society (BFCS) chairlady Ms Rose Atieno Ochieng.
The matter now had been handed over to the police after the blame game went on for three months with numerous meetings between stakeholders bearing no fruit. Meanwhile, the toxic maize continues to pose great threat to human life.
The farmers on the other hand do not believe the maize is toxic and that most think that it was WFP's ploy to deny them income.
A letter from the Bura District Public Health Officer, Mr Elvis Dhadho, to the DC dated October 2, 2009 instructs the DCs office to investigate the matter urgently.
Titled: "Disappearance of seized white grain whole maize, unweighed 238 bags" the letter urged the DC to carry out "full investigation of the matter which is by law a contravention under Section 30 (10) of The Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act, Cap 254 Laws of Kenya".
Mr Dhadho says the condemned maize stock had been seized by his office after WFP declared it highly toxic and unfit for human consumption.
"The stock was officially seized by my officers after analysis report from WFP indicated high levels of aflatoxin in 975 bags of 50kgs which were in the process of being purchased by WFP from the Bura Farmers Cooperative Society".
The officer added that a series of consultative meetings and joint collaboration interventions between the DC's office, NIB manager, WFP representatives, Equity Bank (which gave a loan to the farmers to grow the disputed maize), public health officers and cooperative representatives in the month of September had failed to resolve the matter.
According to Mr Dhadho, WFP made their report vide a letter dated September 23, 2009 declaring the maize unsafe.
According to WFP's report, samples of the maize were tested in Europe where it was found to have unacceptable levels of aflatoxin.
It says only 10 parts per billion units is the globally acceptable level of aflatoxin. However, the Government accepts upto 20 parts per billion or higher for livestock.
But the Bura maize was found to contain between 890 and 3,800 parts per billion making it extremely dangerous for human and even livestock consumption.
The DC, like the irrigation scheme manager Mr Masawe, wants his office left out of the saga saying it had nothing to do with the business between WFP and the farmers.
"We were not involved from the beginning. It was a project between the irrigation scheme, farmers and WFP. We can't be blamed for the disappearance of the maize which was kept by the farmers and WFP," he said.
He said what he knew was that WFP wanted to buy 975 bags from the farmers and actually bought the first consignment of 500 bags.
"When the maize tested unfit, WFP went ahead to compensate the farmers. They even brought 1,000 bags of maize which they bought from elsewhere in order to give to the farmers as compensation," he said.
The 90 farmers who claim they lost more than Sh12 million in the deal with WFP vehemently dispute the aflatoxin theory of the public health officer and the international organization and dismiss the compensation story.
The Treasurer of the cooperative Mzee Magiri Manene says, "This whole issue is a rip-off. We were selling our maize to local market before at Sh2,000 per bag. We had sold 3,000 bags to Mwingi in the previous harvest before WFP came in".
He said WFP convinced them that they would buy their crop at a better price of Sh 2,600 per bag "and we accepted".
Said Mzee Manene, "WFP came and supervised the growing of the disputed crop all the way to harvesting and storage. All along they confirmed that our maize was perfect.
"They stored it under their supervision in the godown and used their preservative chemicals. Later they even put it in WFP branded bags. How did the maize suddenly turn toxic?"
He said sometime after WFP took the samples away, they sent word that they would come back and buy more maize from the farmers.
"I went out of my way to get 270 extra bags when they told us they would arrive on September 19 to buy more maize," he said adding that the farmers from nine villages of the scheme were shocked beyond explanation when, upon arrival, WFP declared their maize contaminated and unfit.
"What surprised us even more is that WFP brought 1,000 bags of worse maize claiming they were compensating us. This maize is old and mixed with other grains and can not even be sold to consumers," he said.
The chairperson Ms Rose Atieno says, "If they wanted to compensate us, why didn't they give us money? Why give us maize? We agreed they would pay us money for our maize, not maize", she said.
Farmers have cried foul, claiming that thereis more than meets the eye in the whole saga. She said they are unable to service a Sh 12 million loan from Equity Bank which they hoped to pay back after the WFP deal.
Of the 238 bags of disappeared maize, Ms Atieno said farmers went to the cooperative officials and demanded it back following the circus.
"The farmers took their maize away and sold it or consumed it in their homes," she said and asked why no one died from eating this maize if indeed it was toxic.
The farmers want WFP and the ministry of Public health to come clear on the matter and explain to the nation what the truth is.
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