Members of Parliament have urged the New Kenya Co-operatives Creameries (KCC) to halt milk supplies to government agencies that have not settled their debts.
On Thursday, New KCC Managing Director Samuel Ichura and Cooperatives Principal Secretary Patrick Kilemi appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives to address concerns about overdue payments to dairy and coffee farmers.
Committee Chairperson and Embakasi North MP James Gakuya revealed that the milk processor is owed Ksh.184.3 million by various government entities. Among the debtors, State House owes Ksh.14.62 million, and the Office of the First Lady has an outstanding amount of Ksh.3.07 million for milk supplies.
The Ministry of Defence and the Administration Police Service have the largest debts, amounting to Ksh.49.49 million and Ksh.32.38 million, respectively. Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) owes Ksh.10.53 million, while its private wing owes Ksh.4.45 million. Additionally, the National Security Intelligence Service has a debt of Ksh.4 million, and Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company owes Ksh.2.27 million.
“New KCC is in business, and no one compels you to keep supplying milk to government agencies that still owe you money. You cannot tell farmers that you can’t pay them because government bodies owe you,” said MP Gakuya.
In response, the PS noted that the milk processor is struggling in its operations due to huge amounts of debt.
“New KCC is failing to meet its obligations because of supporting government agencies. We need the help of this committee for the outstanding debt to be paid,” said PS Kilemi.
The PS, however, assured the committee that the situation has improved and reaffirmed that the remaining payments would be made by the end of the month.
