President William Ruto has since he took office six months ago demonstrated his preference for long-term solutions to the country’s economic crisis. His first move was to scrap fuel and food subsidies, while rolling out plans to supply farmers with affordable fertilisers to boost production. This is the subsidised fertiliser scheme that reduced the price of a 50-kilogramme bag by half, from Sh6,500 to Sh3,500.
While still focusing on boosting agricultural production, the government has now come up with a plan to purchase tractors, tippers and assorted equipment, including harvesters, at a cost of Sh31 billion. Now, that is a huge sum of money that calls for a thorough scrutiny of the source to avoid running into a hitch.
This could turn out to be the largest importation of tractors and agricultural equipment in recent years. It will be implemented in 18 months through the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC). This decision has raised eyebrows because the state-owned AFC, which in the past did a super job in the agricultural sector, has in recent years been financially troubled.
Its choice to take charge of the massive imports of tractors and other equipment, therefore, certainly raises eyebrows. The major question that arises is what has changed in such a short time? Also of concern is the choice of the eastern European country of Belarus as the source of the vital equipment and accessories.
Belarus happens to be an ally of Russia, which is at war with its neighbour, Ukraine. It is rather curious that Kenya would wish to do business with Belarus, which faces sanctions by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
It would not make sense for Kenya to do business with a country in the bad books of its traditional Western allies. The Ruto administration could be taking an ill-advised and potentially damaging diplomatic gamble by dealing with a country that has been slapped with sanctions by the Western nations.
While Kenyan farmers need the tractors to boost productivity, the country cannot afford to get caught up in the crossfire between Russia and its ally Belarus, and the Ukraine. Kenya should keep out of other nations’ conflicts.
