By ALLAN TAWAI
The prices of maize flour are expected to increase from Monday in most parts of the country, with millers circulating new price lists to supermarkets.
However, Agriculture National Assembly committee chairman Silas Tiren on Sunday asked millers to deplete the subsidized maize flour in their stocks before issuing out new prices to retailers and supermarkets.
According to Mr. Tiren, the millers have enough stock from the funded programme to last another month.
Speaking to journalists at Marriott Hotel in Eldoret, the chairman said he expects the price of the staple food to increase from February and not January.
“The millers need to be fair to Kenyans. They took enough stock, we have the records of how much maize was purchased by each miller, and we expect their stock to last another month,” He said

A shopper buying maize flour
The Moiben legislator urged the millers not to take advantage of Kenyans since the Sh6 billion subsidy programme came to an end on December 31.
“I don’t want to interfere with the operations of the millers but we are warning them against increasing the prices or repackaging the subsidised flour,” Mr. Tiren said.
The end of the maize flour subsidy programme has, however, elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans, with most terming it a political campaign strategy used by the government.
“The government should just sustain the subsidized maize programme. They should consider the fact that Kenyans are having serious financial crisis at the moment” Grumbled Mr. Simiyu, a farmer from Shirugu village in Kakamega County.
The government has ended the programme after the harvest season in the grain basket of the country.
Meanwhile in Nyeri County, Senator Ephraim Maina vowed to push for the return of the Sh90 maize flour after an outcry from residents.
Mr. Maina, while addressing residents of Kiamwathi, said the government has the ability to sustain the programme that has seen many households afford meals when the maize flour prices went up.
“I will approach President Kenyatta to discuss how we can have the subsided maize back on the shelves. We know it is possible,” he said.
The senator also promised to resolve a delay in issuance of title deeds to residents of Kiamwathi colonial villages.
“I will hold talks with officials in the Ministry of Lands to have this issue addressed immediately,” he said.
The details of the new price list have not been revealed yet until it takes effects.