The Strategic Food Reserve and Oversight Board (SFR) has refused to form a merger with National Cereals and produce Board (NCPB).
The SFR stated that a merger between the two bodies would be impossible since SFR has been protecting billions of shillings from being misused.
In January 2020, Agricultural Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya had suggested that the two entities be merged to enhance service delivery and minimize conflicts that have emerged in the recent days.
CS Munya had also suggested that since some positions in the two agencies were overlapping thus a merger between the two would be of great use.
CS Munya announced that the merger between the two agencies is part of the reforms that he would bring to the agricultural ministry that has been embattled with several cases of corruption.
According to Noah Wekesa, the SFR chairman, the merging with NCPB will not happen since NCPB officials were involved in the corruption cases that the ministry is being accused of.
Dr. Wekesa argues that SFR was created by the Ministry of Finance and not the Ministry of Agriculture and its mandate has been extended to accommodate other foods and not just maize alone.
SFR which was formed in 2015, was once referred to as a Strategic grain Reserve where it was handling maize only but the name was later changed to Strategic Food Reserve in order to accommodate all other foodstuffs in the country.
“We are now handling other foodstuffs such as milk, rice and we are planning to expand to green grams, so how do you merge an entity with the expanded mandate with that one that handles grain?”
“SFR was created by the Ministry of Finance through a Cabinet resolution to oversee food security in the country,” he said.
Dr. Wekesa says SFR will continue working as an independent agency and avoid the merger with NCPB and continue with its mandate of protecting public funds from being misused by the ministry.
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