Government suspends Sh100 maize flour subsidy after Treasury fails to release funds

Agriculture CS Peter Munya. [David Gichuru, Standard]

The government has suspended the Sh100 maize flour subsidy programme introduced last month due to insufficient funds.

The announcement made by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya on Saturday, August 13, will now force you to dig deeper into your pocket, despite the high cost of living.

"Due to inadequate exchequer releases from the National Treasury, it has been decided that the maize flour subsidy programme will be suspended with immediate effect," Munya said in a statement.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had last month capped the maximum retail price of a 2-kilogram packet of unga countrywide at Sh100.

Uhuru said this was to cushion Kenyans against high unga prices amid global inflation and an increase in food prices.

During his address on July 20, the president said his government would pay Sh105 per 2-kg packet of maize flour in subsidy.

The Sh100 roll-out subsidy programme was to last indefinitely.

The Head of State noted that the subsidy would see the government compensate millers Sh105 for every two-kilogram packet of maize flour they sell to retail outlets.

Unga prices had risen to a record high of Sh230 per 2kg packet in select outlets across the country, following a drought and a surge in prices of fertilizer.