The government has ordered brokers involved in the maize marketing chain to stop trading in the commodity with immediate effect.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the cabinet had resolved that the cartel of middlemen responsible for the fluctuation in maize supply should be kept out of the trade to stabilize the retail price of the staple food.
"The cabinet discussed the increasing price of maize and resolved that the brokers who exploit farmers and consumers step aside and let the government agencies streamline the flow of the staple food so that the poor can easily access the foodstuffs at affordable rates," he said.
Odinga was speaking at Raila Education Centre in Kibera when he addressed thousands of slum dwellers who raised concerns over the runaway cost of living in the wake of skyrocketing prices of staple foods in the country.
During its meeting on Thursday the cabinet directed the National Cereals and Produce Board (N.C.P.B.) to import a further 5 million bags of maize and to ensure over the next three weeks it releases 700,000 bags of maize directly to the millers.
The president said that the Inter-ministerial food security cabinet committee should consult and agree with the millers who will receive the maize from the NCPB on the sale price of maize flour to consumers.
At the same time Agriculture Minister, William Ruto assured Kenyans that the price of food commodities will come down in the next two weeks.
Odinga who was officiating the inauguration of Malaysian low cost housing units in the sprawling slum challenged Kenyans to emulate the sound policy measures the Malaysian people adapted which enabled the Asian country transform to a middle level income economy from a third world status where Kenya still languished.
The Premier said the comprehensive manner in which Malaysia handled the ethnic diversity among her people resulted in tolerance and peaceful coexistence between perceived rival communities adding that it was time Kenya aped the model.
"Malaysia is a multi ethnic society with similar historical and economical experiences like Kenya including being a colony of Britain, but ironically it has achieved Kenya's post independence goals of fighting poverty, ignorance and diseases while Kenya is still aspiring to do so," he said.
Odinga however attributed the failed efforts to realize the post independence dreams to poor governance by past regimes whose administrations neglected development issues targeting the masses.
He cited the housing schemes for the low income earners whose programmes were shelved after independence and the little efforts made by the post independence government to put up such structures were negligible.
"At least the colonial administration put housing units in Kaloleni, Mbotela Ziwani, Shauri Moyo and many other aares but the post independence regime only managed a few units in Buruburu and Madaraka which could not address the population explosion in the city," the PM said.
He said the grand coalition government was however trying to remedy the situation with a series of slum upgrading initiatives already in the offing.
Odinga said the demands for housing in the capital had grown tenfold since independence resulting to the mushrooming of slums and other unplanned settlements.
The Managing Director of Malaysian Malken CCH International Corporation which has undertaken to construct a sample of the anticipated units in the slum Mr. John Baptist said the sample units which comprised of two bedrooms were put up within a span of two weeks using Integrated Building System (IBS).
Malaysian High Commissioner to the country Mr. Delvan Das lauded the cordial relationship between the two countries and expressed optimism that the technological and trade exchange initiative would immensely benefit the two countries.
Others present during the colourful launch were lands minister James Orengo and his Housing counterpart Soita Shitanda.
