Hired goons destroy 400 coffee trees worth Sh13m

A farmer asseses the damage done to his coffee trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By KENAN MIRUKA

KISII COUNTY: Unknown people have cut down over 4,000 coffee trees on a disputed piece of land at the Coffee Research Foundation’s (CRF) Kisii substation.

The destroyed coffee bushes, worth more than Sh13 million, sit on land that is the subject of a protracted dispute between CRF and the Gusii Institute of Technology (GIT).

The coffee, of mixed varieties among them experimental material, was destroyed at night by suspected hired goons.

CRF’s substation manager, Nyaga Kathuri, said they woke up in the morning to find the coffee, part of which was ready for harvesting, indiscriminately destroyed.

“We have lost over 4,000 trees, some of which had ripe berries ready for harvesting. We expected to harvest the rest between April and June next year. We have recorded statements with the police and hope they will help us establish the motive behind the incident,” said Kathuri.

Kisii Central DCIO Michael Mwenze said investigations had been launched into the matter.

The substation was established in 1957 by the Department of Agriculture on 20.5 hectares acquired from the then Kisii Farmers Training Centre. It was handed to CRF in 1964. Three-quarters of the land is under Ruiru 11 coffee variety while the rest grows indigenous varieties.

The substation serves as a Coffee Growing Advisory Centre for Kisii, Bomet, Homa Bay, Migori, Nyamira and Narok counties. It was established mainly to provide sites to investigate problems pertaining to coffee growing under high rainfall and warm conditions.

In 1976, when the institute was established, it was given seven hectares by the coffee research foundation but in recent years, the institution has demanded more, leading to the dispute.

A tussle ensued between the two institutions, with GIT claiming to have a valid title deed to the land, and despite the intervention of the permanent secretaries for Agriculture and Education ministries, the matter remains unresolved.

When The Standard visited GIT, the principal, Athanas Mokaya, was not available for comment as he was chairing a day-long meeting.

In December 2011, an estimated 6,000 trees worth Sh7 million were destroyed on the same land. Twenty people were arrested and charged with malicious damage of property at the Kisii Law Courts.

Separately, angry coffee farmers in Kegogi, Kisii County, set ablaze a lorry they suspected to be used by thieves targeting their produce. The farmers affiliated to Megogo Coffee Pulping Station in Marani doused the lorry in petrol before setting it on fire.

On Monday, managers at the factory dispatched 200 sacks of coffee to a miller in Thika but they allegedly kept back 34 sacks of high-grade coffee, which were to be transported at night.