Agriculture minister William Ruto Wednesday cleared himself of any wrong doing in the maize scandal.

But he appeared to shift blame to the ministry of Special Programmes, saying his ministry was not in charge of the ‘selling and distribution of cereals,’ not even those held for commercial purposes by National Cereals and Produce Board.

Although he did not mention Dr Naomi Shaban headed ministry by name, Mr Ruto referred journalists to the Presidential Circular No 1, if they wanted to know which ministry he was talking about.

The circular outlines the organisation of the grand coalition government by providing information on its senior officers, their official titles and the duties and mandates of ministries.

Said Mr Ruto at a news conference in Nairobi; “The sale and distribution of cereals in the strategic grain reserve is not a function of the ministry of Agriculture.”

“If you are looking for someone to take responsibility over the matter, we shall not. I shall only take responsibility if everyone else take theirs,” he added.

When prodded further to state whether he will resign over the saga, the minister curtly replied; “Put the question to the ministry responsible of the strategic grain reserve, which is certainly not us.”

It is the second time that the Agriculture minister has come into focus over the maize scandal amid pressure that he should resign.

When the scandal was first highlighted, Mr Ruto survived a motion of no confidence in parliament.

The strategic grain reserve is managed by the ministry of Special Programmes, according to the ministry’s website.

It is this ministry that is expected to purchase and maintain up to eight million bags NCPB under an agency agreement. It is also the NCPB, which falls under the Agriculture docket that buys maize from farmers.

The strategic reserve are supposed to cushion the nation against severe food shortage as well as to assist in stabilization of local prices of grain.

The grain reserves are managed by a group of trustees comprising of Permanent Secretaries in the ministries of Special programmes, Agriculture, Finance, livestock, Cooperative and Marketing, and NCPB’s Managing Director.

On the other hand, the mandate of the ministry of Agriculture is to promote and facilitate production of food and raw materials for food security and incomes; advance agro based industries and agricultural exports; and enhance sustainable use of land resources as a basis for agricultural enterprises.

On Thursday, Mr Ruto said he only authorized his PS Romano Kiome to write a letter to the NCPB to facilitate the issuance of several bags of maize to a disabled individual, which, he unfortunately did not even get.

‘I don’t see the crime in that...I have written several other letters to assist needy Kenyans,” he added.

The minister said he had not seen the audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers implicating senior government officials in the maize scandal, saying he would only take ‘appropriate action’ after going through it carefully.

The report named at least two permanent secretaries, a parastatal boss and an official in the Prime Minister’s office as having been involved in various decisions regarding the subsidised maize programme in 2008.

One PS was accused of writing to the NCPB requesting to help one of the applicants for maize.

‘‘In view of his position as a trustee and at the ministry, such action is tantamount to seeking to influence decision making at NCPB.’’

But the PS argued that he had been exonerated from any wrongdoing by the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC), says the report.

Another PS is accused of failing to act to ensure NCPB did not incur losses in the transactions.

The official at the Prime Minister’s office is alleged to have participated in the award of a contract to a company to supply 18,000 tonnes of maize.

The award, which the report said was initiated by the official, was outside the formal government procurement process.

The auditors also say he participated in varying of the quoted price in the tender without referring the matter to the tender committee in accordance with regulation.