A government gazette notice revealed the extension of the Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) liquidation process, now set to conclude by August 2020. The decision followed unsuccessful efforts to complete asset sales by the original August 2019 deadline, as noted in a February 2020 report.
Acting Commissioner for Co-operative Development Geoffrey Njang’ombe attributed the delay to complexities in finalizing sales, appointing Stephen Kamau Njoroge and Anthony Maina Waithaka to oversee the extended period. The liquidators gained authority to seize financial records and other assets crucial to the process.
KPCU faced receivership in 2019 under then-Cabinet Secretary for Trade and Industrialization Peter Munya, who accused the union of mismanagement and noncompliance with the Cooperatives Act. Munya stated the liquidation aimed to assess financial health and dispose of assets, including its Sh6 billion worth of holdings.
The union, representing 703,000 farmers across 300 cooperatives and 2,000 estate farms, operates coffee milling facilities with annual capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes. An accompanying image from 2017 showed maize bags, highlighting the agricultural context of the dispute.
