Kenyans crowded stores around the city a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced subsidies that would reduce the price of maize flour to Ksh100 for a 2Kg pack
Videos posted to social media platforms showed buyers being told to queue up at supermarkets or at local wholesale and retail stores.
Some wholesale and retail stores mentioned that they were considering regulating the amount of packets one individual may buy, adding that it will help eliminate inconveniences and shortages when more supply arrives.
The management of certain stores all across the city ordered the staff to keep watch and hand out maize flour as shoppers stood in line. These procedures have been put in place in order to maintain order and prevent accidents and stampedes caused by consumers scurrying to grab a packet of Unga.
The millers have reassured them that there is enough maize flour to feed the country. However, several Kenyans have expressed concerns over whether there may be a scarcity amid the price cut.
Uhuru pleaded with the millers to refrain from hoarding maize flour, warning that doing so would harm Kenyans. The President asked the millers to embrace ethical corporate conduct and equivalent social responsibilities for the Kenyan people.
“This moment requires us to act in unison in order to cushion the vulnerable in our society, as we continue to work out how to find sustainable means of dealing with this emerging trend,” he said.
“If my appeal to the millers is to practice a reasoned level of social ethics, my appeal to the political class is to exercise civic responsibility. To politicize the pain of the vulnerable without offering solutions is to mock the lifestyle of the same voters the politicians are appealing to,” he added
