Kiambu governor, Kimani Wamatangi, on Tuesday, June 13, called upon the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and other security agencies to probe a local company in the county.
Wamatangi claimed that the officials at the coffee company were involved in embezzlement and misappropriation of funds.
His statement was in line with the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi revoking the licenses of several multinational companies in the war against coffee cartels.
The governor, while distributing coffee fertilisers to farmers in Komothai Ward, Githunguri Sub-County, announced that his administration will audit the coffee company in the area to ensure farmers benefit from their farms.
"We will deal with the cartels in the coffee sector to ensure our farmers get their money. All the suspects shall be arrested and arraigned as we will not tolerate them in the county," Wamatangi stated.
"As Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua announced, we are weeding out the cartels in the coffee sector," he added.
While revoking the licenses of several multinational companies, Linturi threatened the cartels to sue him in court as he was hell-bent on revamping the sector.
"We cannot allow this to happen. We will sit down and revoke those licenses so that we have a way to end that cartel nature. They can sue me in court if they want," Linturi stated.
He spoke on June 9 in Meru County, where Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire complained over three companies operating as millers, marketers, and buyers.
"It is about time we face these people on the face and say enough is enough," Mbarire remarked, in an event graced by Gachagua.
On his part, the DP argued that by reforming the coffee sector, he was creating jobs for the youth and descendants of the Mau Mau freedom fighters.
"They must give way and align with us, or we will get you out. It is not business as usual. This is the administration that will sort out the issues of cartels in coffee, tea, and milk and restore the dignity of the farmer," the DP stated.
On May 10, coffee farmers from Mt Kenya called upon the government to guarantee minimum returns for their products to ensure they are cushioned against the fluctuating prices.
They suggested a constant Ksh170 payment of one kilo of raw cherry delivered to factories compared to the less than Ksh100 they received.
