Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has emphasised the need for Kenyans to pay taxes.
According to Linturi, this is the only way the country can become self-reliant and avoid the habit of continuously importing.
He said it was regrettable that he has had to go begging for food outside the country when Kenya can produce enough to feed its people.
“I have gone out of Kenya to beg for food several times and as a Meru that is not something that I would want myself to get into anymore,” he said.
“When I go begging in Italy, India for rice and other things and I am told we are sorry we cannot give you because we do not have enough, people here become helpless,” he added.
He explained that more money will ensure the country purchases additional fertiliser to be distributed to farmers to enable them to produce more food.
“Please, muombe hii watu walipe kodi wacha mtuulize maswali 2027 vile tulitumia pesa,” he stated.
This is translated to mean, 'Please, let us pray that these people pay taxes, you will ask us questions in 2027 how we used the money.'
He, however, noted that the country currently has sufficient maize in stock.
The CS made the remarks Monday during the launch of the dissemination of the Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP IV) for 2023-27 in Meru.
The discussions, he said, underscored the importance of collaboration to achieve the plan’s goals and enhance local economic growth.
He also used the opportunity to highlight the opportunities within his ministry.
These include the efforts to lower animal feed costs, the rollout of the sexed semen programme, improving the cost of hides and skin and funding opportunities.
