Shock as traders smuggle grains meant for dying, starving Kenyans

By SILAH KOSKEI  and KEVIN TUNOI

North Eastern, Kenya: Relief food meant to alleviate the suffering among thousands of starving Kenyans is being smuggled from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores, The Standard on Sunday can reveal.

Unscrupulous cereal traders and Government officials have hatched a cartel to divert the relief food destined for famine-ravaged Kenyans to the grain market.

The cartels are currently pitching tent in Eldoret where they are repackaging the grains from the NCPB’s 90-kg jute or sisal bags to ordinary plastic bags and selling the same at exorbitant prices. The Standard on Sunday has been on the trail of these cartels.

Our team found that instead of the food being transported to the intended destinations to aid the hunger-stricken citizens, it is diverted to godowns upon leaving NCPB silos.

Unscrupulous businessmen drive off the trucks ferrying the relief food at high speed to the godowns where the food is repackaged.

The relief maize cartels have been operational for some time now and have further thrived with the onset of famine in arid and semi-arid regions.

A Facebook post by a traffic police officer that read “INHUMAN: a truck (registration number withheld) failed to stop at a roadblock at Baharini police road block in Eldoret,” prompted our investigations.

The truck was speeding back towards Eldoret town about 30 minutes after it had passed the same roadblock heading to the opposite direction.

Protection

The truck had earlier in the day left the NCPB depot in Eldoret destined for Turkana County.

“The information I have is that it was ferrying back relief food the Government was sending to the hungry,” wrote the officer.

It has emerged that tonnes of maize have found their way back to the market thanks to protection offered by senior police officers in Eldoret. The officers are raking in kickbacks to offer round the clock protection to the traders.

The relief maize successfully finds its way through numerous security checks, with allegations that officers manning the roadblocks are under instruction from their seniors to turn a blind eye on such cargo. The maize is sold at Sh2,000 per 90 kg bag to a prominent businessman in Eldoret.

Two weeks ago on February 19 at 5pm, police officers on the trail of a lorry purportedly ferrying the relief maize to camp for forest evictees in Uasin Gishu tipped off our team.

The truck was transporting 146 bags of maize from NCPB Eldoret depot on the authority of the Wareng County Commissioner to assist hunger victims.

Valid document

The police officers had been tipped on the lorry particulars of the lorry and the departure time from the NCPB depot.

“Our inside source revealed to me that the lorry was parked inside the depot awaiting to be loaded with bags of maize before it could go through the routine process of getting the maize into the market,” said the source.

At 6.15 pm, the lorry was driven out loaded with the bags each weighing 90 kilogrammes.

The police source trailed the truck in a taxi as it sped off towards the Eldoret-Nairobi highway but later turned back and was parked at an entertainment spot in town.

The police pounced on the three occupants who identified themselves with the third occupant introducing himself as a clerk from Wareng Sub County Commissioner’s office.

“The official produced a valid document with commissioner’s signature and stamp, we confirmed from the paper document that the food was being transported to Kipkurere forest evictees,” said the source.

The police officer explained that a man and a woman walked to them and claimed they were officials from the camp where the relief food was being transported to. Upon confirming that the letter was genuine and was linked to the consignment, the officers let go the truck.

The lorry was later driven to a nearby petrol station where it was parked.

Laid an ambush

“Upon confirming from our inside link, it was clear that the truck would depart the following morning to Cheplaskei trading centre along Eldoret - Nairobi highway where offloading and repackaging would be done,” said the source.

On the morning of February 20, as planned, the truck left the petrol station and headed to Cheplaskei with a group of men to offload and carry out the repackaging process.

The truck was parked behind shops at Cheplaskei centre, but after offloading 10 sacks the officers ambushed the suspects, arrested them and impounded the bags of relief maize from NCPB.

It was later revealed that the buyer had acquired the maize at a cost of Sh2,000 and because it was too dry, he intended to source another consignment for blending before disposing it to the market.

A brother to the woman who had earlier claimed to be from the Kipkurere camp attempted to bribe the officers. The officers said they laid an ambush on the suspected woman in Eldoret but she failed to turn up.

“It was surprising that our colleagues from the flying squad arrived at the scene claiming they had been sent by the OCPD and ordered us to abandon the truck and its occupants, citing alleged directive from State House,” said our police source.

The arresting officers refused to co-operate. The officers said their seniors were intimidating them.

Efforts to get a comment from Eldoret OCPD Ndungu wa Ikonya were futile, as he claimed he could not comment on the matter because he was off duty.

“I cannot comment on any matter while off duty, furthermore I am currently not in the office,” he said.

The officer sent to probe the case was Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of administration Leo Nyongesa. The  consignment has been returned to NCPB after EACC officers intervened and it will be used as exhibit, while the truck has been released to the owner.