Kenyan Miraa Growers Taken Advantage of as Cartels Rake in Millions from Unlawful Charges
Starting in July 2022, as described by farmers, a shadowy cartel emerged following a handshake agreement between Kenya’s then-President Uhuru Kenyatta and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. This deal marked the end of a chilling two-year miraa export ban. Under its terms, shipments resumed, but with a devil’s catch—unrecorded, ‘under-the-table’ fees said to be tacitly approved by high-ranking honchos from both nations.
Farmers are in a pickle. They’ve been thrown into a financial quagmire, already grappling with shrinking export volumes that once danced over 50 tons daily before the global snafu. Insiders—and not just your average Joe, but a former Ministry of Agriculture bigwig—spill the beans, claiming this hustle lines the pockets of some powerhouse players. “It’s a rich-man’s game; they’re raking it in while farmers are treading water,” whispered the official, a ghostly figure who wished to stay in the shadows.
In the same year, the Nyambene Miraa Trade Association (Nyamita) started yelling from the rooftops about these murky fees. Exporters complained about being strong-armed into coughing up ‘commissions’ at, of all places, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Rumor had it airlines were roped into collecting these hush fees. The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) tossed into the ring some new rules, but they landed with a limp thud, doing little to tackle the rot.
Here’s a kicker: miraa exports to Somalia didn’t just tiptoe upwards; they skyrocketed from 3.13 million kilograms in 2022 to a jaw-dropping 6.26 million kilograms in 2023. The cartel’s coffers swelled, ballooning to a staggering Sh3.6 billion by 2023 from a hefty Sh1.8 billion in the prior year. Despite this tidal wave of wheeling and dealing, government attempts to clamp down have been mostly ‘all hat and no cattle’.
Meru’s Senator, Kathuri Murungi, chimed in, noting that the Ministry of Trade isn’t clueless about these levies. However, he wagged a finger at their snail’s pace in taking decisive action. “Even interventions by the Kenyan Ambassador to Somalia have hit a brick wall against this entrenched cartel,” he mourned.
Despite a loud, campaign-era promise by President William Ruto to pull the plug on this cartel in 2022, these illicit levies are still playing merry hell with prices, squeezing farmers dry. Kenyan miraa is fetching top dollar—around Sh5,000 per kilogram in Mogadishu—yet the farmers see just crumbs, their earnings nibbled away by sky-high export costs.
Kimathi Munjuri, Nyamita’s spokesperson, points out how this ‘commission’ is monkeying around with the miraa bazaar in Somalia, pushing prices north and making it a luxury for many. There’s a chatter, albeit with no hard receipts, suggesting these levies might secretly be a crafty way to curb khat munching in Somalia.
In this tale of high stakes and higher profits, it’s a cruel twist that both time and officialdom have yet to untangle. As the story goes, the farmers stand at the raw end of a bargain that whispers of intrigue and power gone awry.
Edited by: Ali Musa
alimusa@axadletimes.com
Axadle international–Monitoring
