Ruto meets Embu leaders amid muguka ban by coast counties

President William Ruto met leaders of Embu County in Nairobi who have been protesting the move by coast counties to ban the sale and consumption of muguka in their areas.

The leaders were led by Governor Cecily Mbarire, who was accompanied by the deputy governor, the senator, the women representative, Members of National Assembly and all Members of the County Assembly.

Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, who was also at the meeting, informed the meeting that mũgũka, a variety of Miraa, is a scheduled crop in accordance with the Crops Act 2013 and the Miraa Regulations 2023.

“With Mũgũka having been recognised by national legislation, any other laws or order that contradicts national legislation is null and void. The Crops Act 2013 and the Miraa Regulations 2023 were passed by the National Assembly and the Senate and with the concurrence of the Council of Governors,” a dispatch from State House said.

The dispatch said having been passed by Parliament, the regulations obligate the government to allocate funds for the farming, licencing, promotion, regulation, transportation, aggregation, selling, marketing and export of the crop.

To operationalise the Crops Act 2013 the regulation provide for the establishment of the Miraa/Mũgũka Pricing Committee.

Consequently, the Council of Governors has already nominated three members to the committee.

The regulations also provide for a Miraa/Mũgũka Standard Code of Practice, which will regulate the farming, licencing, promotion, regulation, transportation, aggregation, selling, marketing and export of the crop.

To address concerns of all parties and stakeholders the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock was directed to convene a consultative forum to address concerns raised and agree on the implementation of the Miraa/Mũgũka Regulations 2023.

“The future of Miraa/Mũgũka is in scaling up farming, aggregation, grading, pricing, packaging and value addition of the crop.”

“For this reason, the government has committed to allocate Sh500 million in the 2024/25 Financial Year for value addition of these scheduled crops,” the statement said.

Coast counties- Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Taita Taveta announced the ban and sale of the crop saying it is causing harm to the locals.

This prompted protests from Embu leaders. The crop is mainly planted in Embu.