State accused of giving IDPs contaminated maize

BY JAMES MUNYEKI

The internally displaced families living in Rurii, Nyandarua Central Sub-county, have accused the Government of supplying them with contaminated maize.

The maize has been confirmed to have samples of aflatoxin poison by the Public Health Department.

The families claim officials from the Ministry of Special Programmes delivered the bags to the camp on Thursday last week from the Ol-Kalou National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depot.

According to their spokesperson, Mary Nyambura, the families had made several requests for relief food over a year, only for the Government to supply them with “bad maize”.

“We have been pleading with the Government to give us food during this dry season but we were shocked to find out that the maize supplied to us was contaminated. We want the Government to give us good food,” she said.

She said the 2007 post-poll violence victims were allocated land by the Government but have never received any other support to enable them live comfortably. 

Speaking to the Press in Ol-Kalou town, Ms Nyambura said despite informing Government officials about the bad maize, nothing had been done to ascertain whether it was fit for human consumption or not.

She said they were forced to hire a vehicle to transport the maize back to the local DO’s office to avert incidents of poisoning.

She expressed fears that more people might have consumed the maize after she was informed by an officer in-charge of the Ol-Kalou NCPB depot that over 500 bags had been distributed but they were yet to receive any complaints.

Rurii MCA Wahome Kamoche said it was unfortunate that the Government distributed bad maize to unsuspecting residents.