Governors, State blame one another over food crisis

Residents of Maua, Meru County, pay for subsidised maize flour at Society Stores Supermarket on May 22, 2017. Deputy President William Ruto blamed county bosses for the food crisis. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Ruto blamed governors for the food crisis, saying agriculture is a devolved function.

Governors have challenged the government to explain why it has taken too long to stabilise food prices.

Council of Governors chairman Josephat Nanok asked the Jubilee administration not to play politics with the lives of Kenyans.

“Although this is campaign season, the government should own up and not shift blame to county governments,” the Turkana governor said in a statement.

Mr Nanok was responding to remarks attributed to Deputy President William Ruto when he addressed a public rally in Mombasa on Friday.

Addressing residents of Likoni, Mr Ruto blamed governors for the food crisis, saying agriculture is a devolved function.

“Counties have failed and we have been forced, as the national government, to continue supporting agriculture by offering subsidised seeds and fertiliser to farmers,” the DP said.

“When the people mandated to ensure that we have enough food fail, should we sit down as a national government and watch the ordinary citizen suffer? No we cannot do that.”

But in a statement today, governors said the government has deliberately starved counties of resources to fully implement agriculture as a devolved function by declining to restructure national government agencies tasked with executing county government functions.