Mutenha GMB tenure extended

Business Writer

THE Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has extended the contract of chief executive Rockie Mutenha by six months.

Mutenha was due to retire end of April this year.

“His contract was extended by six months and the process of looking for his replacement is ongoing,” said a GMB official who declined to be named because is not authorized to talk to the press.

Mutenha joined GMB is May 2017. Prior to joining the GMB, he was the chief executive of the Agricultural and Marketing Authority (AMA). GMB said the stepping down of Mr Mutenha was in line with the parastatals’ retirement policy.

The GMB, the country’s leading grain trade and marketing company was established in 1931 as the Maize Control Board responsible to offer maize producers a fair share of the local and export markets and also to provide them with a guaranteed outlet for their surplus maize. The establishment of the board was also to ensure the availability of adequate supplies of maize to meet domestic requirements.

It was renamed Grain Marketing Board in 1951 under the Grain Marketing Act.

Its responsibilities remained fundamentally unchanged although many commodities such as wheat were added under the control of the GMB. The GMB at that time was modified from being fundamentally a developmental or social institution to include being commercially oriented commodity trading organization.

The Government however directed all commercial activities of the GMB be separated from its core Strategic Grain Reserve (SRF) functions. GMB undertook value addition and commercial trading activities, which are now being run by Silo Food Industries following the separation of commercial activities from SGR function.