Deputy President William Ruto now says the cancellation of the subsidy two years ago is the cause of the rising cost of maize flour.
Speaking during the presidential debate at the Catholic University of East Africa in Karen, Nairobi, the DP said the exit of subsidy saw the prices of fertilisers soar.
“The subsidy cancellation two years ago is the reason we are where we are today. We are here because we did not do what we needed to do with our farmers,” he said.
The DP was, however, at pains to explain why the Galana Kulalu project, which was to bridge the food security gap, failed.
The project is one of the initiatives identified in the Kenya Vision 2030 that has the potential to contribute to the achievement of food security under the “Big 4” initiatives.
“There is no reason for Kenya to spend Sh12bn to get maize from Uganda or other countries. We have removed the support that the farmers had. This is why the cost of ugali has gone up," Ruto said.
“ If you look at the big 4 plan; we had agriculture and food security, but unfortunately that plan was sabotaged.”
In his plan when elected, Ruto said they have put in place Sh30bn revolving funds to ensure farmers have access to input and an extra Sh12bn expenditure on agricultural extension in order to increase the productivity of every farmer.
“We didn't get the time to do what we had promised Kenyans. I told my boss and he requested he wanted to assemble a different group of people to deliver on his legacy projects unfortunately the big 4 projects suffered.”
Earlier when he got to the podium, Ruto said he is vying for the top seat because there are certain things he and President Uhuru Kenyatta didn’t do right.
The Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate arrived for the presidential debate at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa accompanied by Rachel and his children.
The UDA presidential candidate will have an opportunity to explain his agenda to the people of Kenya who will be following the debate live.
"Today is an important day because we have come here to get a chance to speak to Kenyans. Kenyans need to know they will wake up on August 9 to go vote, they need to who they will be voting for and why," Ruto said.
"We will have a chance to explain our manifesto, our agenda and important things that affect Kenyans and our country."
