The Kenyan Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Mithika Linturi, has dismissed concerns over the procurement of subsidised fertiliser by the government after reports emerged of a suspicious money trail in the multi-billion-shilling tender awarded to Mashambani Farm Inputs Ltd.
The company won a Sh10.2 billion contract to supply fertiliser to the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC), but financial regulators have questioned unexplained cash withdrawals made immediately after the firm received payment from KNTC.
Speaking at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depot in Meru, Mr Linturi referred to the revelations as “the work of busybodies” and emphasised that the procurement process was above board.
He added that the government was committed to lowering the cost of fertiliser further and was in talks with a Burundian investor to establish a fertiliser factory in Kenya.
, but financial regulators have questioned unexplained cash withdrawals made immediately after the firm received payment from KNTC.){kind=link}