Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Wycliffe Oparanya has appointed a new nine-member committee to oversee the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) transition to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
This follows the reforms to improve farmer incomes and bringing transparency to coffee trading by transitioning the NCE to be supervised by the CMA after an uproar from the farmers.
In an official notice dated Friday, February 21, Oparanya named Kenneth Gitonga as the chairperson of the committee.
Jackie Muia, Amos Mamboleo, Irene Kabochi, Roselyne Chepkirui, Luka Rotich, Job Kihumba, Raphael Anampiu, and Elphas Tarus were named as the members of the committee.
"It is notified for the general information of the public that CS Wycliffe Oparanya, Chairperson of the National Steering Committee to the Board on Coffee Reforms, has appointed the Working Committee to manage the transition of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange into the framework of coffee exchanges as provided for in the Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange) Regulations and the Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations," the notice read in part.
The committee's key responsibilities include reviewing the NCE’s legal ownership, advising on asset and liability transfers, and developing a governance framework for the new coffee exchange.
Additionally, the committee will oversee human resource structures, facilitate necessary licensing applications with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), and recommend policy and legislative proposals to support the sector’s growth.
The committee is also mandated to benchmark global best practices in coffee trading, propose collaboration strategies among sector stakeholders, and, if necessary, form sub-committees to focus on specific areas.
“The Working Committee shall remain in office for 12 months from the date of publication of this notice and the Cabinet Secretary may extend the term of the Working Committee,” the notice continues.
The appointment comes even as a section of Kenyan coffee brokers filed a lawsuit seeking to block the implementation of the new Capital Market (Coffee Exchange) Regulations 2024.
The brokers filed the suit on Friday, February 21 arguing that the regulations would reduce their auction commission from two per cent to one per cent.
In the petition, the brokers argue that t under the previous arrangement, brokers received a two per cent agency fee from gross sales which was paid in US dollars.
However, the new regulations set the brokerage fee at one percent, while introducing additional charges including a 0.3 per cent coffee exchange fee, a 0.2 per cent Capital Markets Authority (CMA) statutory fee, and a direct settlement system provider fee.
