Nairobi, May 9 -- Farm produce middlemen in the Mt Kenya region have asked Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to first hold consultative meetings with them to understand their role in linking farmers to urban markets.

This comes after Mr Gachagua said his top priority was to "eradicate cartels" in the agricultural value chain, starting with the dairy, tea and coffee sectors before moving on to other crops.

The law, albeit softly, requires brokers to be registered with the relevant government ministry, alongside money changers, gold and silversmiths.

Cited as the Brokers Act whose date of commencement was on December 24, 1930, it states that "official brokers shall be of two classes: official and ordinary and their licensing be of three-...