Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said that the
government will waive the Sh176 million owed to Embu Coffee Mills.
Speaking on Saturday, during a coffee farmers’ engagement at
Kavutiri Primary School grounds in Runyenjes, Embu County, Kindiki said the
government has allocated Sh7 billion available to farmers under the Coffee
Cherry Advance Fund.
This is even as he called for stricter governance of the
cooperatives to get rid of unscrupulous managers out to misappropriate farmers’
earnings.
“We must make sure the governance of cooperatives is
streamlined. We must not allow mismanagement of coffee societies. Some managers
have taken loans attracting high interest rates yet the government has
allocated money under the Coffee Advance Cherry Fund at affordable interest
rates,” he said.
The Deputy President said coffee reforms are being
intensified to improve earnings for farmers following better returns recorded this
year.
He said the government is fully focused on streamlining the
sub-sector in a bid to further raise the pay for farmers who received the
highest returns in many years.
“We promised deserving pay for farmers and guaranteed
minimum returns. In our manifesto, we promised to raise the pay to at least
Sh100 per kg of cherry. We have raised above Sh100 in only two years in office.
It is possible to raise further than the Sh150 farmers are receiving now in
some areas,” Kindiki said.
He noted that the Coffee Bill 2025 and Cooperatives Bill
2025 that are set to institute more reforms are currently being finalised.
He said the two Bills will further streamline the coffee
sub-sector for farmers to earn more.
He said other reforms include issuance of one license per
actor in the value chain to avert multiplicity of roles that have been a source
of mistreatment of farmers for a long time.
Presently, one can only get one license for either farming,
milling, brokerage and marketing as per stringent policy change implemented by
the government.
Payment has also been enhanced and farmers receive their pay
within five days of sale at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
Kindiki also promised enhancement of availability and
distribution of subsidised fertilizer so it is accessible at the right time for
farmers.
“We will also subsidise pesticides to ease the financial
pressure on farmers. Most of us were educated from coffee proceeds. It was black
gold and eased lives for many families. We are working on ensuring that we get
back to this so we significantly empower the people who rely on this crop,” he
added.
The DP further cautioned against mixing petty politics with
development issues, insisting that this will only cause more suffering to the
people.
“We don’t want to engage in petty politics because we will
waste time and wananchi will suffer. This is our government, we elected it and
it is serving us.”
Kindiki promised more development projects for the Mt Kenya
region as promised by President William Ruto during the recent tour.
He vowed to ensure faster implementation of all the projects
launched.
“The work you assigned us we are on it. We are working hard
to fulfil it so that when we come for your support, we will have a scorecard to
show.”