The High Court has blocked the government’s attempt to remove the restriction on raw macadamia exportation.
This comes after businessman Joseph Ndungu filed a lawsuit challenging the Ministry of Agriculture’s decision to abolish the ban on exporting in-shell macadamia nuts.
The petitioner asserted that the Ministry of Agriculture’s decision is illegitimate, null and void, and made without jurisdiction, and that the court should dismiss it.
According to Ndungu, the ministry proceeded to grant Nicemart traders and general suppliers, as well as nine other nuts dealers, exclusive rights and mandates to export raw macadamia without the inclusion and participation of over 41 industry dealers, processors, farmers, and macadamia sector stakeholders.
Ndungu further claims that the Minister’s decision violates the Constitution’s principles of public participation, which emphasize farmer participation in the governance of Kenya’s agricultural sector in the development of policies, regulations, and major decisions affecting the agricultural sector.
“The said decision of conferring exclusive exportation rights without any justifiable competitive selection criteria encourages discriminative practices which ultimately discriminate against other legitimate macadamia dealers and processors duly licensed to deal with macadamia nuts who have not be afforded an equal chance and opportunity,” said Ndungu in Court documents.
