Barely a week after Migori governor Ochillo Ayacko flagged off farm input worth Sh28.1million to farmers ahead of the long rains, farmers from Uriri Sub County have cried foul over neglect in the exercise.
Led by North Kanyamkago MCA George Omamba, the residents said they were sidelined in an exercise that saw 16,470 farmers from across the county benefit.
The exercise that was graced at Lichota grounds last week was an upgrade from the maize and bean seeds worth Sh15 million that were distributed during the last planting season.
According to Mr Omanba, the allocation that ought to have “met the farmers interests equitably was not put ibnto good use, resulting into some farmers missing out on the distribution.
“In my view and in the view of most farmers that I represent, the distribution was skewed along political lines and those perceived to be opposing the county government were deliberately left out,” Mr Omamba said at a past event attended by Uriri MP Mark Nyamita.
Farmers who spoke at the event accused the department of Agriculture of dancing to the tune of the executive at the expense of service delivery.
“I was one of the beneficiaries selected to get the disbursement, unfortunately, I only heard over that radio that the inputs had been distributed. I wonder the criteria used to arrive at such,” noted one farmer only identified as Fredrick.
The outcry comes amidst plans by Dr Ayacko’s administration to invest more on the Agriculture sector.
While presiding over the event, the governor exuded confidence that the county would steer the sector forward to attain food security.
“We are excited to open up more opportunity for cottage industry oil production and by the time we are harvesting sunflowers we will be ready with oil pressing machines to boost value addition,” he said.
Lucas Mosenda, Agriculture executive said the seeds are certified and specific to the climate condition of the area.
“We have started by opening up support of rice with certified seeds, we still import rice as a country and cooking oil and we will reverse that even in villages,” he said.
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