Uproar as Wa Iria starts fresh milk price wars
Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria said the new minimum price of a litre of milk in the county will be Sh40 up from Sh35.
Dairy farmers in Murang’a are set to enjoy better returns from their produce following the announcement of Sh40 per litre as the new minimum price for the commodity.
But some players in the sector have termed the proposal as mischievous, warning against the politicising of the dairy industry in Murang'a County.
Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria said the new minimum price of a litre of milk in the county will be Sh40 up from Sh35.
The county boss also announced that all milk buyers in the county who will not adjust the farm-gate price per litre to be in line with the new directive with effect from September 1 will be treated as “milk hawkers and will be arrested”.
The county government founded the Murang’a County Creameries (MCC) in 2019 to uplift the county’s economy by buying off the farmers’ milk at a set price of Sh35, igniting a sector price war to force all other buyers to raise their farm-gate rates.
But County Private Dairy Traders Association chairman James Kariuki termed the move as mischievous and only aimed at gaining more political mileage instead of empowering the dairy farmers in Murang’a.
He faulted the county boss for announcing price adjustments without proper consultations.
“The new hike is unnecessary politics in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic that has gravely affected enterprises. The prevailing taxation rates coupled with stiff market competition demanded that governor Wa Iria call a consultative meeting and see how best we could have formulated a win-win situation for the sector players,” Mr Kariuki said.
Political gymnastics
He argued the county government should instead provide an enabling environment for economic growth, especially in the dairy sector.
“We want to see more economic sense prevail in place of personal political gymnastics,” he said.
But an adamant Mr Wa Iria said the minimum price can as well be raised to Sh55 since a litre of the same milk once placed in the market is fetching close to Sh100.
The governor vowed that he was not done with the hikes, announcing that he plans to target coffee, tea, bananas, traditional vegetables, avocados and cereals sectors.
New Nginda Dairy Chairman Julius Maina, however, welcomed the proposal by the governor.
However, he claimed that the announcement came at a time when MCC has defaulted on paying farmers three months of milk deliveries and has also lost major deliveries to private buyers who had already increased the price to Sh38.
“In essence, MCC is struggling to pay farmers and its processing wing has shut down after it lost deliveries to competitors who were offering better prices. Saying he has upped the rate to a minimum of Sh40 is progression of a market price war which is good for the farmer. Wa Iria is only seeking to win back deliveries that have been earning his regime a profit of Sh7 per litre delivered,” he said.
Mr Maina said the county milk processor owes farmers more than Sh200 million in milk rates as well as transport, maintenance and rental bills with workers now hitting the fifth month without pay.
Mr Wa Iria announced that he has severed all transport and maintenance contracts and the county government would take over to save on recurrent expenditure hence reserve enough to meet the 14 percent price hike.
