President William Ruto on Monday, May 27 held a meeting with the leadership of Embu County over the recent ban of Mügûka by some counties.
The Embu leadership was led by Governor Cecily Mbarire, who was accompanied by the deputy governor, the senator, the women representative, Members of the National Assembly, and all Members of the County Assembly.
In a statement after the Meeting Ruto said Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi informed the meeting that Mugűka, a variety of Miraa, is a scheduled crop in accordance with the Crops Act 2013 and the Miraa Regulations 2023.
“With Mügűka having been recognised by national legislation, any other laws or order that contradicts national legislation is null and void. The Crops Act 2013 and the Miraa Regulations 2023 were passed by the National Assembly and the Senate and with the concurrence of the Council of Governors,” Ruto stated.
“Having been passed by Parliament, the regulations obligate the Government to allocate funds for the farming, licencing, promotion, regulation, transportation, aggregation, selling, marketing and export of the crop,” he added.
President Ruto directed CS Linturi to convene a consultative forum with all stakeholders to address concerns raised and agree on the implementation of the Miraa/Műgūka Regulations 2023.
The Head of State noted that the future of Miraa/Műgűka is in scaling up farming, aggregation, grading, pricing, packaging and value addition of the crop.
“For this reason, the government has committed to allocate KSh500 million in the 2024/25 Financial Year for value addition of these scheduled crops,” Ruto stated.
This comes after Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir banned the entry, transportation, sale, and use of muguka in the county.
Kilifi and Taita Taveta counties followed suit and banned the use and sale muguka.
“In exercise of the powers conferred in Section 30(2)(1) of the County Government Act and all other enabling laws of Kenya, I, Gideon Maitha Mung’aro, Governor of Kilifi County, hereby order and direct that there be a total prohibition of the entry, transportation, sale, and use of muguka and its products within the county”, Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro announced on Friday last week.
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