MPS PRESS STATEMENT-GOVERNOR GACHAGUA DEVOLVING UNDERWORLD SLEAZE
Jan 27, 2014 admin Business News, County News, Features, Latest News 2
We the undersigned MPs fully appreciate and support reforms in the coffee sector. We know our constituents have been exploited for decades. Institutional procedures and mechanisms must be put in place both by the County and National Governments to change the sad state of affairs. We wholly endorse a new system that’ll give farmers better dividends for their labor and investment.
Coffee has been grown in Kenya since 1899 when it was introduced by the white missionaries. It was grown as a cash crop mainly by the white settlers and later by the indigenous Africans in a very regulated and controlled environment.
Currently, coffee ranks 4th in Foreign Exchange earning for the country with an average annual production of about 50, 000 metric tonnes and an annual gross earning of KSH 20 Billion. The industry operates under a legal framework of the Coffee Act No. 9 of 2001 to this day which guides the various value chain players in order to bring harmony among the different players.
The engagement of the service providers by the growers is through annual service contracts that are registered with Coffee Board of Kenya and any dis-engagement is either after the contract period is over or via a 90 day notice by one party to the other.
Since coffee production is a capital intensive venture, the coffee millers invest a lot of money on the growers in form of advances to help in the growing and processing of coffee and then recover the money after the coffee is sold, which is not the case in Nyeri County. The service contracts are to safeguard against any disruptions in the flow of coffee to the overseas buyers.
Recently, Nyeri County has been agitating for county coffee mills even when there are other commercial mills in the area which will push the national coffee milling capacity to hundreds of metric tonnes.
There is an agitation for the centralization of milling and marketing by Nyeri county governor and at times through coercion which is against the spirit of liberalization that the farmers fought for, and contrary to good business practices. Haphazard closure of the Central Kenya Coffee Mills in Nyeri is a case in point by the Nyeri county government without any regard to the ongoing commitments that the parties concerned have with the growers and overseas buyers.
The message to both local and foreign investors is that the coffee sector is unstable and unreliable for any long-term investment. Buyers will be scared to market Nyeri coffee abroad or bid for it at the auction because of the risk of not getting access to it. If they bid for it, they will discount the bid price to mitigate against that risk. Farmers will incur huge losses in transport to the county mill in Sagana besides the inefficiency due to lack of competition.
Nyeri County coffee will loose out in the market due to the inconsistencies in the value chain thus not being able to guarantee availability. Banks lending money for onward transmission to growers will shun the coffee industry and other sectors such as education and business will be affected. Farmers’ cooperatives may also be auctioned as lenders try to recover their money since the collateral was coffee that has been confiscated by the governor.
Though the constitution has devolved matters of agriculture, the necessary statutes are not yet in place to ensure a seamless transition and thus the Nyeri county government is acting both illegally and unconstitutionally. This will certainly have far reaching implications on the industry and the National economy and may spell death for the entire coffee industry in Kenya.
OUR DEMANDS AS NYERI MPs
The Governor Hon Gachagua must immediately stop his erratic, autocratic disbandment of Factories management Committees; instead he’d peacefully campaign for democratic transitions as per the Cooperatives Act.
Hon Gachagua should cease using violent means to achieve his vested interests; he must make full disclosure of his direct private and proxy business motives in the sector and shouldn’t be allowed to mobilize goons to raid coffee factories. Let him procedurally seek convention of special AGMs to legally approve desired changes.
The Governor must deliver on his promise to farmers: sh130 per kilogram of coffee sold, with sh30 advance this January! Let him give the cash!
Hon Gachagua should involve the County Senator, MPs and MCAs to resolve any issue concerning coffee and must immediately stop misusing so called coffee forums to insult MPs and MCAs.
He must stop abusing and rudely transferring public servants without due regard to their performances in areas of placement.
The Governor must comply with Governance Ethics and cease being an agent of wastage. He’s become a monster; leaving fear, waste and hate in his wake fees and medical bills fully expectant of Gachagua’s juicy promise just before Christmas.
We want to remind the People of Nyeri that a 9th Parliament (of which Gachagua was a member) report by the Public Investment Committee declared the then Mathira Mp unfit to hold public office on account of grave financial scandal.
Old habits die hard. Nyeri people shouldn’t blame their current Members of Parliament if their coffee is “auctioned” by ravenous incorrigible appetites.
We’ve forewarned you our people, as we did during campaigns.
Pronounced, stated and signed by:
1. Hon Kabando wa Kabando, MP Mukurweini
2. Hon Kanini Kega, MP Kieni
3. Hon Mary Wambui,MP Othaya
4. Hon Peter Weru Kinyua, MP Mathira
5. Hon Esther Murugi, MP Nyeri town
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