The High Court has put on hold plans by the government to contract Zambian farmers to grow maize exclusively for the Kenyan market.
Justice Mugure Thande on Friday said pending hearing and determination of an application filed by the Farmers Party of Kenya, CS Agriculture Mithika Linturi should not take any steps towards implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Kenya and Zambia.
She further directed the Attorney General and the CS who have been listed as respondents in the case to file their responses by May 3.
The matter will be mentioned on May 16 for further directions.
The directives follow after the party representing Kenyan farmers petitioned the High Court seeking its intervention in the deal.
According to court documents, the farmers represented by the Farmers Party of Kenya say it's not logical for Kenya to engage Zambia to produce maize as it is facing a similar challenge.
They claim Zambia is also importing maize to satisfy the demands of its citizenry.
"The impugned decision is not only indiscreet but unfeasible for reasons that Kenya has more arable land than Zambia," they said.
The party indicates that Kenya has approximately 5.8 million hectares and Zambia 3.8 million hectares of arable land.
In March, the government made a decision to contract farmers in Zambia to carry out large-scale farming for export into Kenya.
While signing the MoU in Lusaka last month, Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi said the move will help in achieving food security.
The deal has seen Kenya allocated at least 50,000 acres of land for growing maize in the current planting season.
The party argues that the decision is illegal and has violated certain sections of the Constitution one of them being Article 10.
The said article provides for public participation but the party claims the decision was made without involving Kenyan farmers and agriculture stakeholders.
In the same breadth, the farmers have said Linturi usurped the power of the Kenyan people in making a decision touching on their nationality and interests without involving them.
"The same undermines the national value of patriotism as it furthers the interests of Zambia at the expense of Kenyan farmer’s interests,” the party said.