by ALLAN KISIA
Friday September 22, 2023
Ken Mwendia sorts and arranges Allele Miraa in Maua town
Image: GERALD MUTETHIA
Governors have rejected state-backed regulations to guide multi-billion shilling miraa business.
The Council of Governors in its submissions to the Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation cited various reasons for rejecting the Crops (Miraa) Regulations, 2023.
Committee of Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives of the Council of Governors asked senators to reject the regulations saying their views were not incorporated in the guidelines.
“We were not involved in the formulation of the regulations yet we are a key stakeholder in the miraa business,” said Kizito Wangalwa, who represented CoG at the meeting.
Wangalwa said registration of miraa grower institutions and small-scale farmer associations should not be undertaken by the Agriculture and Food Authority but by the CoG.
“Agriculture is a devolved function so it is only proper that counties do the registration,” he explained.
He further registration of miraa aggregators and transporters should also be done in counties, and not AFA.
“Licensing of miraa vendors should also be done by counties because trade is also devolved. Appointment of inspectors should also be done by counties,” Wangalwa added.
AFA acting director general Willis Audi said the Office of Attorney General advised them to align the regulations with the Crop Act, 2013.
“We never dealt with governors directly when formulating the regulations,” he admitted.
Makueni senator Dan Maanzo said the regulations were introducing new levies which had made farmers believe miraa farming may not be profitable.
“We want to know if there was public participation. Were governors involved?” he posed.
The Crops (Miraa) Regulations, 2023 was published on April 5, 2023, to provide the regulatory framework for the miraa subsector in Kenya.
The Miraa subsector has improved drastically in the last year after the re-opening of the Somalia market in July 2022.