National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has called on farmers to take action against rogue officials in cooperative societies to tackle the issue of financial losses from graft in such institutions.
Wetang'ula spoke on Sunday, July 27, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Sirisia Constituency, Bungoma County, where he condemned what he described as unethical practices that have become rampant in agricultural cooperatives.
As part of tackling corruption, the speaker encouraged farmers to actively demand transparency and accountability in their societies.
“We must remove corrupt officials from our cooperative societies who have made it a habit of stealing from the sweat of our farmers,” Wetang’ula declared.
“Allowing a few individuals to mismanage funds and swindle producers undermines the very foundation of the agricultural sector. It is time to stand firm and reclaim what belongs to farmers.”
In Bungoma, Wetang’ula cited a specific plight of coffee farmers, particularly those in Mount Elgon and Kimilili, where coffee is a prime source of income. The speaker noted that despite the lucrative coffee trade, farmers have seen little to no return on their investment, mostly due to mismanagement in their cooperatives.
“It is unacceptable to see a chairman of a coffee factory who owns just a small plantation end up as the highest-paid member, while farmers who work tirelessly day and night get paid peanuts. This must stop,” he added.
Kenya's coffee industry has shown resilience in recent months, with a recent report from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) showing that prices rose by three per cent in March.
By March 2025, the price of clean coffee stood at Ksh1,184 per kg, with Premium AA and AB Grades accounting for 71 per cent of the total volume traded. While higher typically means better returns for producers, this has not always been the case for Kenyan coffee farmers.
Wetang’ula warned that the continued snubbing of malpractice and corruption within cooperatives would eventually expose boards to legal consequences and erode public trust in the cooperative sector.
As far as SACCOs are cooperatives are concerned, a recent report exposed their plight; 58 SACCOs across the country are at risk of losing their assets through auction after defaulting on loans amounting to Ksh1.36 billion.
The loans, which were borrowed from Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco), were sought against deposits that only amount to Ksh368.39 million, leaving a shortfall of around Ksh987.86 million.
