This archive report was first published on 26 August 2019.
Kenya's largest coffee company, the Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU), is on the brink of liquidation. The company, which has been under receivership for years, has been put up for sale and is expected to be concluded in the next six months.
According to a Gazette Notice No. 7963, dated 2nd August 2019, Acting Commissioner for Co-operatives Development G.N. Njang'ombe has appointed a team of joint liquidators to oversee the process. The team, led by Stephen Kamau Njoroge, will be responsible for taking custody of KPCU's properties, including books and documents necessary for the completion of the liquidation process.
With an installed milling capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes of clean coffee per year, KPCU has been a major player in Kenya's coffee industry. The company owns fixed and mobile hullers in key coffee-growing areas, as well as milling plants and infrastructure located in Nairobi, Tala, Sagana, Meru, Nanyuki, Nakuru, Bungoma, and Kisumu.
Founded in 1945, KPCU was formed to procure and supply coffee farm inputs and provide financial services to farmers. The company has a long history of contributing to Kenya's economic growth, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, KPCU's fate remains uncertain, with a powerful clique of coffee barons and cartels reportedly scheming to buy off the company's assets, valued at Ksh6 billion.
