Maize store. (Photo: Daily Monitor).

A civil society activist has called on the government to intervene over “unhealthy” maize flour allegedly being supplied to the country.

Edmond Yakani, the head of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization says he is disturbed by “this information” and said it is an unhealthy practice and a serious concern.

Yakani made the call after Ugandan scientists examined maize and other grain and found an above-normal level of aflatoxin, a chemical that poses cancer risk to consumers.

The activist said the research findings are worrying and require the national parliament to intervene immediately.

“My take on the issue of maize flour which is a country supplied from a foreign country, is that the bureau of the standard should stand firm in fighting corruption within its process of approving food commodities access to South Sudan,” he said.

“But I hope this case of maize flour, should raise the attention of our national parliament to take a serious step in fighting corruption impeding the work of the Bureau of Standards.”

Yakani said the parliament must make sure that the approval of food commodities to the country shouldn’t be compromised.

The activist says the unhealthy maize flour being supplied to the country, allegedly from Uganda, is offering a national security threat to the population of the country.

He called on the Bureau of Standards to stand up firmly in fighting what he terms corrupt practices that might have contributed to these serious dangerous compromises with standards.

Early this month, Ugandan scientists found that maize, sorghum, and groundnuts contain 10 times or higher concentrations of aflatoxin than the safety threshold recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Dr. Godfrey Asea, from Uganda’s National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), said grains they examined in different parts of the country present cancer risk to consumers.

South Sudan imports most of its food commodities from neighboring Uganda.