Alarm as another coffee factory raided in Othaya

Armed gangsters yesterday raided a coffee factory in Othaya and made away with 200 bags of parchment coffee estimated at Sh7 million.

The management of Kagere Coffee Factory claimed a gang of about 20 men, who were armed with guns, caught the night guards flat-footed.

"They gathered them at a central point and tied them with ropes before they broke into the parchment store where they emptied six coffee bins," said Joseph Gakuo, the factory manager.

Francis Gathiga Ngone one of the leading coffee farmer in Murang'a County and whose average production per coffee trees is over 20 kilogrammes annually. (PHOTO: BONIFACE GIKANDI/ STANDARD)

The robbery occurred a few days after the management of Kagere Coffee Factory failed to resolve a standoff to do with a transport and milling licence with the giant Othaya Coffee Farmers Co-operative Society.

The night guards claimed they were threatened with shooting, forcing them to comply with the gang's orders.

The factory management had applied for a movement licence from the giant co-operative, which was declined.

Nyeri South Deputy County Commissioner Evans Ogwankwa claimed this could have been an inside job.

In the last three months, more than 500 kilogrammes of parchment coffee has been stolen from various factories in Nyeri County alone.

Other counties that have been hit in the recent wave of coffee theft are Kirinyaga and Murang'a.

Poor prices

The re-emergence of coffee theft in Central Kenya has led to high-profile meetings, with local leaders calling on the government to protect small-scale farmers who are already fetching too little from their produce due to poor prices.

So serious is the matter that the region's leadership has listed it among issues that they will petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to address when he makes his visit to Nyeri this week.

Last Wednesday, Nyeri County Commissioner Onesmus Musyoki in a crisis meeting with business people at the White Rhino Hotel, blamed co-operative society managers for the upsurge in coffee theft.

"These people rarely ask for police protection whenever they have coffee parchment in their stores or on transit," said Mr Musyoki.

Nyeri County Police Commander Eunice Kihiko also said the public have not been volunteering information concerning suspected coffee thieves to the police.

Mukurweini Deputy County Commissioner Isaac Masinde intimated that investigations conducted in factories that have allegedly been raided paint the pattern of an inside job.

For instance, said Mr Masinde, the theft of at least 150 bags of coffee at Kanyiriri Coffee Factory in Mukurweini was only reported at 8am although the theft had happened the previous night.

Drying stands

Masinde said his security committee had toured the factory two days before the attack and had ordered the management to hire an extra night guard and also reinforce grilles at stores.

"But one member of the committee claimed employing another staff would cost money and it was not possible to take the measure. Two days later, the factory was raided," he said.

Kanyiriri factory was raided on January 6, this year, while another 54 bags were stolen from Chinga factory in the neighbouring Othaya sub-county in Nyeri.

"They claimed 150 bags were stolen but all the coffee that was in the factory was in drying stands, and police later released a figure of 90 bags that may have been stolen from the facility," he said.

After a few days, police in Karatina impounded 175 bags of coffee which were being offloaded at a godown.

In October last year, five factories within Nyeri County were raided and parchment coffee worth Sh4.6 million stolen.

This month alone, Nyeri County has witnessed theft of at least 200 bags of coffee worth millions of shillings.

Some farmers now want police to intensify patrols in areas near processing factories, while others want the Coffee Board of Kenya to enforce the ban on transportation of the produce at night.

Mukurweini MP Kabando wa Kabando and his Mathira counterpart Peter Weru said the raids were worrying and could drive farmers to abandon production.