An activist has asked the High Court to suspend a legal notice which abolished the Strategic Food Reserve trust fund, putting at risk Sh10 billion in its accounts.
Okiya Omtatah says if the notice is not suspended, there is a high likelihood that the money will be misappropriated or put to other uses. He has sued Treasury CS Ukur Yatani, the Attorney-General, Agriculture CS Peter Munya and the National Cereals and Produce Board.
He says the notice was not subjected to public participation as required by the Constitution hence it should not be allowed to stand.
The fund was established to provide the Strategic Food Reserve with physical stock and cash equivalent.
The SFR includes maize, beans, rice, fish, powdered milk and canned beef. Currently, no other organ has the mandate to discharge the functions of the reserve fund.
The fund’s mandate is to stabilise the food supply and prices, arrange for procurement, storage and sale of food commodities and maintain adequate food reserves in physical stock or cash equivalent at any given time.
According to documents filed in court, the initial capital of the fund was Sh2.2 billion appropriated by Parliament in 2014-15. Additional capital of the fund was made in the subsequent financial years.
The fund also solicits and receives funds and other assistance to promote the object of its establishment.
Omtatah believes no public interest will be served by abolishing the fund, which he says is well-managed and is executing its mandate perfectly, including resisting the importation and dumping of cheap maize on the local market to the detriment of local farmers.
“Not even the NCPB can discharge the functions of the fund,” he said.
Most importantly, he said, the legal notice has no transition mechanisms to secure the fund’s assets and resources including the Sh10 billion in its account.
Edited by R.Wamochie
