An acute milk shortage has hit Kiambu County following prolonged drought.

A spot check by The Standard revealed that processing plants are not able to supply milk to supermarkets and retail shops. 

Milk hawkers and dealers have closed shops while some operate on minimal stock that get bought off early in the morning.

The shortage has now seen the price of packaged milk shoot up.

A half a litre packet that used to cost between Sh48 and Sh50 now sells at Sh67.

Farmers said they cannot supply enough milk to processing plants following the prolonged drought. 

James Karanja, a farmer, said he has three cows that used to produce between seven and a 10 litres of milk each morning.

He said the cows produced a similar quantity in the afternoon, but now the cows only manage half the quantity.

“I used to buy one 70-kilogramme sack of feed at Sh1500 and now it is retailing at Sh2200," said Karanja. "This price is high and  I have been forced to reduce the recommended amount that I give each cow."

Consequently, Karanja said his production has dropped significantly.

Karanja added that his farm that supplies enough forage is no longer able after the drought.

He said previously, he could even makes silage with the surplus nappier grass from his farm.

“I even dug a big hole in my farm for forage for later use when I have surplus but now I have exhausted the forage and the silage," Karanja said. "We will have some bad time in milk production before the rains return.”

Another farmer, Grace Nyambura from Lari said that there is a significant drop in milk production.

“We used to sell milk at Kimende and Lari shopping centres with a litre going for as low as Sh20. Now we cannot supply all shops in the area,” Nyambura said.

The farmers have also blamed high prices of dairy feed that have forced them to reduce the amount they give the cows. - George Njunge, The Standard

Tanzania is getting closer to launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) which gives the country’s residents a “safe alternative,” the central bank governor has said. However, no date for the digital currency launch has been given.

Growing Interest in Cryptocurrencies

According to Florens Luoga, the governor of Tanzania’s central bank, his country is inching closer to the launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). When launched, the CBDC is expected to counter the growing interest in privately issued cryptocurrencies, a report has said.

In remarks made during an interview, Louga suggested the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) is also preparing for the launch of a CBDC because it cannot ignore the technological advances in money. The governor claimed that BOT’s digital currency will provide users with an alternative that is safer than cryptocurrencies. He said:

It’s important for us to provide a central bank digital currency as a safe alternative because many people are being affected by cryptocurrency speculators.

A Global Phenomenon

The governor added that the central bank has since sent officials to countries whose respective CBDCs have progressed. While many central banks have touted CBDCs as an alternative to cryptocurrencies, few have actually piloted their respective centralized assets. In Africa, only the Nigerian central bank has so far launched a CBDC, while a few others are still at the exploratory or research stages.

Meanwhile, when asked about the launch date of Tanzania’s digital currency, Luoga reportedly declined to state when this is likely to happen. He did, however, emphasize that the BOT cannot ignore this phenomenon.

“Almost worldwide, central bank governors are in training right now and holding discussions on how to bring it about,” Luoga argued.

Photo Courtesy/Standard

Azimio la Umoja have branded Deputy President William Ruto a “hypocrite” for opposing BBI, which proposed an expansion of the Executive, yet he’s now offering Musalia Mudavadi a senior post that doesn’t exist in the current Executive structure.

According to a coalition agreement document deposited with the Registrar of Political Parties, Musalia Mudavadi will take up the Prime Cabinet Secretary position should Ruto win the August 9 presidential election.

The position is akin to that of a prime minister in an expanded executive. 

His functions, as per the agreement, will include assisting the president and his deputy in coordinating and supervising ministries and State departments, coordinating national government functions, chairing and coordinating legislative agenda and performing functions as may be assigned by the president.

Should Ruto win the presidency, then he will through an Executive Order, create the position of Prime CS within 14 days after swearing-in Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) will also propose several Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and ambassadors, taking up 30 per cent of government alongside Moses Wetangula’s Ford-Kenya.

Wetangula, as per the agreement, will be proposed as Speaker of the National Assembly.

UDA, which is Ruto’s sponsor party, will take up the president and deputy president positions, with a bulk of government centred around it. 

These revelations have triggered a response from Raila Odinga’s team, with Junet Mohamed, who is the Secretary-General of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, criticising the DP for rejecting the BBI, yet he seems to be adopting a semblance of the thrown-out reforms report.

“Ruto has opposed the BBI vehemently for the last five years. Today, he is creating the same position that the BBI Taskforce was advocating for – the prime minister and deputy prime minister. Ruto is not [even] ashamed of himself,” Junet Mohamed said during a press conference in Kilifi on Thursday, May 12.

“That tells you the kind of character [that] we are dealing with, a hypocrite. He is the man who said we do not need BBI, we do not need to create positions [for a few politicians], but now, he is re-inventing BBI through the back door. You can fool some people for some time but you cannot fool all the people all the time," said Junet.

Ruto had called out President Uhuru Kenyatta, ODM boss Raila Odinga, Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, among other leaders affiliated to the Azimio outfit for “ganging up to create plum positions for a few people”.

“The end of reggae is the end of political conmanship in Kenya. The [Supreme Court] ruling is a validation that BBI was an illegal and an unconstitutional exercise,” he said on March 31 after the apex court judges dealt the reforms push a final blow. By Stephanie Wangari, The Standard