• The CS lauded the progress made since the military took over the Kibarani facility in August this year.
• He committed to giving the necessary support the facility might require to expand it to accommodate more animals in the future.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
The Kenya Defence Forces will continue managing Kenya Meat Commission facilities across the country, Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi has said.
He said KDF is part and parcel of the government.
“The President issued orders saying that KMC falls within the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The military is part of the Kenyan government and we must respect the good work they have done,” he said.
The CS was speaking in Mombasa on Friday afternoon after touring KMC Mombasa in Kibarani.
On September 2020, former President Uhuru Kenyatta issued orders transferring the management of KMC from the Agriculture ministry to the Defence ministry.
The order meant it would be managed by the KDF, a move that triggered talks of militarisation of government facilities.
“Their [military] management has done so well and we have no fight with them, and me being here today means that we are going to work together with our brothers and sisters in the military,” Linturi said.
The CS lauded the progress made since the military took over the Kibarani facility in August this year.
He said the rehabilitation of the facility was done at considerably low cost, saying the government budget estimates from public works was Sh1.2 billion to rehabilitate the facility. However, he said, the military managed the little resources available making use of its personnel to lower the cost to Sh159 million.
“I must appreciate the team here, they have done a commendable job and I wouldn’t have a problem at all to continue working with them,” Linturi said.
“You can imagine the kind of savings the taxpayers have benefited from the good work done by our defence forces within this short time. What we want is delivery of services, it is not about who is doing what because at the end of the day, the most important thing is that when wananchi bring their livestock here they are paid on time and the price is good. That is what matters.”
He committed to giving the necessary support the facility might require to expand it to accommodate more animals in the future.
Linturi urged farmers from the region to make use of the facility and bring in their animals, adding that the government through has fast-tracked the process of payment to farmers to be within seven days after delivery.
“I want to tell Mombasa and coastal people that they can now access safe and clean meat because at the facility, you are assured of the quality of meat you are eating and the level of hygiene is good,” he said.
Linturi also said the government has a 10-year masterplan strategy aimed at ensuring that Kenya is food secure.
He said one of the plans was to ensure that the country has enough water for agriculture.
To achieve this, Linturi said, the President had already come up with a plan to construct 100 dams in the next three years through public-private partnership programmes across the country.
He urged Kenyans to make use of any available land to plant food, saying that the responsibility of becoming food secure does not lie with the government alone.
“The burden of becoming food-secure rests with all of us, not the national government or the county governments alone. You as a Kenyan have a role to play rather than waiting on the government for relief food,” the CS said.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said on Thursday that Kenya and the Horn of Africa are facing extraordinary food and nutritional situations due to prolonged drought.
“As we speak, over 4.35 million Kenyans are in need of food and water. We have lost more than 2.5 million livestock,” the DP said while opening the 119th edition of the Mombasa ASK international Show at the Mkomani grounds.
He appealed to the county governments through the Council of Governors to moot a coordinated plan to supply food from the surplus producing counties to the affected regions.
Gachagua also appealed to them to consider lifting the cess for food in transit to the affected zones.
“It is absurd that we are discussing food insecurity in the 21st Century. But as the government, we will see a different Kenya in the next few days. That is our commitment," he said.
“I also call for proper utilisation of resources mobilised for this noble course. Firm action will be taken against anyone who misappropriates the relief food and other resources.”