The Embu County Assembly Finance and Planning Committee has urged the County government of Embu to formulate a policy to control miraa trade.
The committee led by Morris Nyaga, MCA Kirimari ward, said a policy to control sale of miraa is crucial for helping in management of the trade and also in collection of much needed revenue.
Addressing the media on Wednesday in Embu the committee Chairman said a policy on miraa will also regulate competition for the market of miraa between traders from Meru and Embu.
Nyaga accused traders of miraa from Meru of affecting the quality of miraa from Embu by mixing it with miraa from Meru and selling it to unsuspecting buyers at lower price.
He condemned the Tuesday night fracas between miraa traders from Meru and Embu at Kamungetha miraa market which resulted in four casualties, a man and three women who are admitted at Embu Level Five hospital.
“I urge miraa traders to respect our hospitality for allowing them to come and sell their miraa in Embu,” he added.
He said the high quality miraa from Embu, with a high price has adversely affected miraa trade from Meru hence attracting jealousy from Meru miraa traders.
Muriithi Nyaga Kiura, MCA Mbeti South which leads in muguka production has said they are not going to sit and watch as Meru traders disrupt prices of muguka in Embu, adding that muguka type of miraa is not found in Meru and hence they should not interfere in its pricing.
He has urged the security agencies to conduct investigations and bring to book all the culprits involved in the night fracas.
His counterpart, Peter Muriithi Nyaga, MCA Mbeti North suggested the setting up of separate market places for miraa and muguka so as to avoid a repeat of the incident in future.
Sicily Njiru, a nominated MCA has urged miraa traders from Meru to coexist peacefully with those from Embu or else they would be prohibited from patronizing the Embu market.
Miraa traders from Embu whose miraa (muguka) is priced highly have been complaining about miraa traders from Meru who bring their low quality miraaand mix it with the
Embu type then sell at a lower price hence affecting the price of miraa from Embu.
This escalated to a confrontation between the two groups yesterday night which left the four casualties.
By Kimani Tirus
