A ship carrying 48,000 tons of white maize docked at the Port of Mombasa over the weekend reviving hopes of Kenyans to have the cost of maize flour come down.
MV Stellina docked at berth 5 to discharge the commodity as the government puts more effort to address the pending maize shortage and mitigate the cost of food in the country.
The ship sailing under the flag of Malta docked in Mombasa on Saturday April 15 morning and she is expected to discharge the commodity which is owned by a number of millers in three days.
“We have the vessel at berth 5 and this is good for our country,” Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) confirmed.
The vessel arrived a day after President William Ruto promised that the cost of maize flour will come down this week.
Though the Head of State promised the second shipment will arrive next week, the KPA shipping manifest indicates no ship has been scheduled to land with maize before 26th April.
On Friday after launching the Mavoko Water Project, the Head of State said lowering maize flour prices is a major issue and that Kenyans should expect to lower prices for maize (flour).
“The price of unga will go down and we have to ensure that the maize we are importing from other countries does not affect our farmers because they are the ones we depend on here in our country,” said the President.
But in the list, a number of ships carrying duty-free products including wheat, rice and edible oil have been scheduled to make a call at the port of Mombasa.
But Cereal Millers Association (CMA) has asked the government to allow more millers to import more white maize to bridge the shortage.
“Though the imports will ease pressure on competition, we do not know when the next consignment will land in the country,” said CMA in the latest interview.
MV Stellina docks barely a month after a ship carrying more than 42,000 tonnes of yellow maize arrived in Mombasa as the first consignment of subsidised maize to arrive in Kenya since December last year when the government authorised duty-free imports to address shortages.
The arrival of the vessel did not make any difference as yellow maize is mostly used to make animal feeds and oil products.
To boost local food production, three vessels Mv African Robin, Mv Seastar Tradition and Summer Sea are expected to deliver tons of fertilizer to coincide with planting season in the country.
There has been increasing food prices in Kenya which with new data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicating that inflation remained unchanged at 9.2 percent in March.
Housing, water, electricity, and gas rose by 7.5 percent while of transport went up to 12.6 percent in just one year.
