A miraa lobby group is at war after its members were sidelined by the national government budget. Nyambene Miraa Traders Association or Nyamita is pushing for Miraa Fund under the custody of Agriculture ministry moved to Commodity Fund for miraa Saccos to benefit.
In a letter to Agriculture cabinet secretary Peter Munya, Meru senator Mithika Linturi and five MPs say they want money to assist farmers and traders. The letter is signed by Nyamita chairperson Kimathi Munjuri.
The association proposes the money at hand for this purpose in the 2019-2020 financial year be transferred to the Commodity Fund.
Saccos can then borrow, disburse and recover the monies from their members using the Commodity Fund. It has since emerged that officials from Kilimo House in Nairobi were in Nyambene mobilizing miraa stakeholders, and claiming their funds will be channeled to one Sacco.
According to a local daily, the officials are working with a Sacco launched in 2019, to access the fund.
“Why Kilimo needs to specifically mobilize and train for this one entity is beyond us,” the letter reads.
If farmers and traders against the Sacco fronted by the officials from the ministry are sidelined, it is feared, they will become agitated and cause conflict over the miraa kitty.
“By writing to you, we are keen to evade all the traps that are being set to ensnare us into a confrontation that may cause delays in disbursement and realization of this fund this financial year which has barely a month to end,” reads the letter in part.