Parliament summons Kosgey over coffee deals

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Kosgey has been summoned to appear before the National Assembly on Wednesday to shed light on controversial coffee marketing deals between the Nyeri County government and dealers.

According to Mathira MP Peter Weru, the secretary is expected to explain agreements he witnessed between the county government, marketers and millers, the nature and amount of sales made so far, and payments made to farmers.

“We want to hear from him what the national government is doing to ensure farmers are not exploited,” said Mr Weru, in reference to claims that a delegation of Nyeri County government officials had travelled abroad using money from farmers’ coffee proceeds.

On Monday, Governor Nderitu Gachagua announced that coffee farmers who delivered their produce to the Sagana Coffee Mills, as proposed by the county government, will receive an advance payment of Sh355 million to cater for school fees as they await the completion of the marketing of the rest of their produce.

ADVANCE PAY

The advance pay is money derived from the sale of coffee made so far both through direct sales and auction at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.

The governor said they had sold over 54 per cent of the crop, and urged farmers to be patient as the county government continued negotiations with buyers abroad, adding that his desire was to make the coffee industry self-financing to save farmers from high interest rates incurred from bank loans.

At the same time, Mr Gachagua announced that the county government had procured 30,000 bags of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate at a cost of Sh40 million.

On the trips the county government made to the US to market the coffee, Mr Gachagua said, contrary to the propaganda being peddled, the trip succeeded in acquiring markets for coffee.

However, he said he could not discuss the details of the agreement with farmers as that was information meant for the various coffee societies which had delivered produce.

RUNNING COST

The governor also called on societies to revise the costs of operation downwards from the current 20 per cent, giving the example of tea, which is processed at between 2 and 2.5 per cent.

The governor said that reducing the running cost will lessen the burden for the farmer and enable them to get more profits.

Kenya Cooperative Coffee Exporters Managing Director Lucy Murumba called on the governor to put in place a revolving fund to pay coffee farmers as they waited for their coffee to fetch the best price in the market.

Ms Murumba questioned why the auction in Nairobi had been closed on claims there had been no coffee from Nyeri County, despite constant supply from farmers.