This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
On August 2, 2019, Trade and Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya announced that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had started investigating officials of the troubled Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU).
The probe was initiated following a complaint by Munya's office, as the ministry seeks to end years of plunder in KPCU by giving the institution back to coffee farmers.
According to Munya, the current leadership of KPCU has been stripping the institution's assets and only catering for their own allowances at the expense of farmers.
The KPCU, which draws its membership from over 703,000 farmers, has seen a significant decline in coffee production, from up to 140,000 tonnes in its heyday to under 40,000 tonnes in recent years.
Acting Commissioner for Co-operative Development Geoffrey Njang'ombe revoked KPCU's registration as a co-operative society on August 2, 2019, and appointed liquidators to determine the value of assets and size of debts.
"Creditors will be given 30 days to claim their debts after which the debts will be evaluated and only legitimate ones paid," Munya said.
