The National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock has pledged drastic action and recommendations against those behind the distribution of fake fertilisers to farmers.
Members said individuals subjecting the country to economic sabotage through distribution of fake fertilisers must be held accountable.
The MPs – Jared Okelo (Nyando), Geoffrey Odanga (Matayos) and Peter Salasya (Mumias East) – visited the National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Muhoroni on Saturday.
They said those found culpable will be punished.
The committee members, who were on a fact-finding mission, met with NCPB staff and farmers.
Okelo said Parliament will come up with radical recommendations to ensure any person involved in the scandal is held responsible.
The committee took samples of fertiliser at the depot for testing at the Kenya Bureau of Standards and in private laboratories.
“We have been visiting NCPB depots in the country [to investigate] the fake fertiliser allegations. We are going to write a comprehensive report based on our findings, which would be tabled before Parliament for debate,” Okelo said.
Parliament, he said, will unearth the fake fertiliser scandal and ensure justice is served and those found culpable prosecuted.
“Farmers have spent their hard-earned money and wasted time applying the fake fertiliser on their farms, some of which have created colouring or discolouration of maize in the farms,” Okelo said.
The destruction caused by the fake fertiliser must be addressed, he added.
Parliament will also draft recommendations to prevent such cases in the future, Okelo added.
The country, Okelo said, has a food security agenda that parliament should not allow a few selfish individuals to derail for personal gains.
“The government must be able to feed citizens, and this can only be realised with sufficient food in the country. A stern action must therefore be taken against economic saboteurs,” he said.
Okelo also questioned who ordered the compensation of farmers without a well-structured process, which he termed might be a cover-up of distribution of the substandard fertilisers.
Odanga called on the government to compensate farmers for all the costs incurred, which include transport costs and time wasted during the delays in planting.
He added that the committee has reached out to the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services, Kenya Bureau of Standards and other quality assurance agencies to establish the quality of the fertilisers already in the market.
Odanga reiterated that they will ensure farmers get justice as Kenyans are the ones who will grapple with high food prices if crops fail.
“We are not going to allow people with questionable integrity to be entrusted with discharging important mandates on behalf of Kenyans,” he said.
Odanga said saboteurs, criminals and cartels in the fertiliser saga must face the law for their ill-deed.
Salasya said the committee will compile their report to determine the extent to which the fake fertilizers had infiltrated NCPB depots and farms in the country.
He said their findings will also determine whether more voices should come out to support impeachment of Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi.
Salasya said Linturi was summoned in parliament and said he was not aware of the existence of the fake fertilizers.
“We’ve now discovered them in NCPB depots and once investigations are complete we'll recommend what should be done to him,” Salasya said.
