• Albert Wesonga, who trades under the name Rosovero Kenya Ltd, won the tender
• Baraka Fertiliser was distributed in a record one week
Image: /FILE
The Bungoma government has dismissed allegations that the free fertiliser it distributed to farmers is fake and has sand.
The county assembly agriculture committee is, however, investigating the claims.
The agriculture department advertised a tender for the supply of non-acidifying fertiliser to 405 poor farmers, mainly widows and people living with disability.
Albert Wesonga, who trades as Rosovero Kenya Ltd, won the tender and was appointed agent and main distributor of Baraka Fertiliser in the county.
Agriculture executive Mathews Makanda on Thursday said the appointment was in line with Governor Wycliffe Wangamati’s promise to give tenders to local businesspeople with the necessary experience and capacity to deliver. He spoke to journalists in his office in Bungoma town.
Makanda said Baraka Fertiliser was distributed in a record one week ahead of the start of the long rains planting season. “The fertiliser was coming directly from the factory in Eldoret to the wards, where it was picked up by the farmers,” he said.
He accused people “with limited knowledge” of fertiliser of starting propaganda to discredit the supplier and the product.
“Let it be known the fertiliser that has been given to farmers in Bungoma is of good quality and has eight elements and minerals such as nitrogen, phosphate, manganese, zinc, calcium and other nutrients.”
Makanda said uninformed people say it contains “unknown particles” but these are carriers that release nutrients to the soil slowly for two-three months as the crop matures.
Many people not only in Bungoma, but in the rest of Western Kenya use Baraka Fertiliser for maize production, he said.
“We urge our farmers to ignore the doomsayers and go ahead and plant their crops with the Baraka Fertiliser that we distributed. It was tested and approved by Kephis and the Kenya Bureau of Standards.”
He said if a farmer is convinced that the fertiliser is bad, he or she should hand it over to a neighbour, who didn’t benefit.
“You can’t say the fertiliser is bad without using it or before planting. We are a responsible government and we care for our farmers,” he said.
Bungoma County Assembly Committee on Agriculture vice-chair Sospeter Nyongesa said they were aware of reports the fertiliser has stone particles.
“We have received samples from farmers from across the county and preliminary investigations show the fertiliser had been mixed with lots of stone particles," he said.
Nyongesa said samples have been taken to the Ministry of Agriculture to ascertain the quality of the input.