Nairobi — President William Ruto has given notice to cartels within the agricultural sector who continue to frustrate farmers in different parts of the country.
President Ruto reaffirmed his administration's commitment to dealing ruthlessly with unscrupulous persons bent on hijacking government services.
Ruto who spoke Thursday when he met Regional and County Commissioners at State House, Nairobi, said the government will do all it takes to eliminate individuals he termed as brokers, middlemen and conmen that have "captured the sector".
"Corruption is not going to be part of this government. The people who are used to shortcuts, cartels, the brokers who are waiting outside there, I want to assure you, we will do whatever it takes to make sure that we get rid of the corrupt in our system," he said.
President Ruto pointed out that the renewed war on graft will make it possible for Kenyans and farmers at grassroots to have easy access to the government services.
President Ruto insisted on the whole-of-government approach in state agencies.
To boost the capacity of farmers to increase food production, the Head of State said the National Government Administration will be tasked with the collection of data on farmers that will inform policy decisions.
"We have called you as the largest government network that we have from the Regional commissioners all the way to the assistant chiefs and the Nyumba Kumi people," Ruto said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"That whole machinery should be mobilized to register our farmers so that we know their acreage, the crops they cultivate and we also know the quantities of fertilize they need so that we can organize the ecosystem for us to make sure that that fertilizer is available," he added.
The Head of State further said that his administration will deploy fertilizer across the country through stockists to reduce the distance that farmers have travel to get fertilizer noting that the available public depots cannot cover the entire country.
To guarantee transparency in the distribution of fertilizer, the Head of State said the government will deploy technology to track the distribution and delivery of affordable fertilizers.
"To get rid of the brokers and the middlemen, we've decided that we are going to employ technology. The e-voucher which has been frustrated for a long time by cartels and people who want to continue to benefit from shortcuts, is now going to be the primary tool for the delivery of affordable fertilizers," Ruto said.
