Martin Ngare Of Coffee Management Services Limited Mr. Martin Ngare, Coffee Management Services Ltd, Tatu City Coffee Park, off Ruiru Kamiti Rd, P.O. BOX 896 - 00232 Ruiru, Kenya 2nd Feb 2022 Dear Mr. Ngare, We would like to address you personally as coffee farmers as follows;
You of all the people is aware that the problem in the coffee subsector is manifested in the decline of export earnings from US$500 million in the 1990s to less than US$ 200 million in 2020 because we coffee farmers disproportionately continue to bear the burden of the value chain because laws governing the coffee sub-sector have created a convoluted coffee industry structure that do not allow us farmers to freely participate in the coffee value chain and enjoy our proprietary rights as enshrined in Constitution, 2010.
We also know you are aware that our poverty, despair, lack of dignity in coffee farming and outcry attracted the government’s attention in 2016 leading to His Excellency the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, establishing a Task Force on Coffee Sub-Sector Reforms to review the entire coffee value chain to identify areas of interventions in production, processing and marketing of coffee of the value chain.
You know very well that The Taskforce thoroughly examined the existing policies, institutional, legislative and administrative structures in the coffee sub-sector and recommended comprehensive reforms . Sadly you and your organisation financed fierce campaigns to drive misinformation on the President’s agenda through the task force.
We salute the brave members of the Presidential Task Force who did not relent under these unfortunate activities but bravely demonstrated the highest levels of patriotism and heeded to H.E. the President’s clarion call to always ask; i. “How will the small-holder coffee farmer maximally benefit from his coffee? “How can the coffee value chain be made efficient and affordable for the smallholder farmers?” Through an extensive consultative process with all stakeholders including coffee we farmers from all over the country, our County Governments, Council of Governors, Ministry
of Agriculture, Agriculture & Food Authority, Coffee Directorate, National Treasury and Planning, Capital Markets Authority, The National Assembly, The Senate as well as other stakeholders, a new legal and regulatory framework was developed in the Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019 and Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange) Regulations, 2020 to govern the coffee subsector.
We have carefully studied your organisation and note that you correctly captured what you do in your website www.coffeemanagement.co.ke/companies as the provision of agronomy, input, milling, marketing , financial support services- loans to farmers, warehousing & certification.
Conveniently, you have omitted the most important activity that you conduct which is buying the same coffee which you market . Please answer these simple questions; How can you be an agent of the farmer to look for markets for us under your marketing company Coffee Management Services Ltd and at the same time you are a buyer through your company C. Dorman? When you go to the Nairobi Coffee Auction, in whose interest do you participate, our interest or C. Dorman’s? When you mill our coffee in your mills known as Central Kenya Mills in Nyeri County and Uasin Gishu , do you allow any of us in your mills to witness how you grade our coffee? In whose interest do you grade our coffee . Ours or C. Dorman’s? When you warehouse our coffee at your modern/state of the art warehousing facilities in Tatu City, do you ever consult with us when you will sell our coffee? Or do you wait for the prices to drop so that you can start selling? In any case, you are the same buyer who will be favoured by the low When you conduct direct sales for our coffee, do you ever allow us to meet the buyer and negotiate like any other transaction where one procures the services of an agent? Or is C. Dorman or your Global company ECom Trading (htt ps://www.ecomtrading.com ) the direct buyer? Funding legal cases behind the scenes- Faceless petitioner We also know that you orchestrated and financed the Legal case PETITION NO. 181 OF 2020 whose petitioners were Rwama Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd, Gitwe Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd, Iyego Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd, Thirikwa Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd where you prayed to the courts to squash the 2019 Coffee Regulations. We raise to you that we are aware of why you would like these new laws squashed. You are the faceless petitioner! These regulations have removed the collusion and conflict of interest malpractice carried out by your organisation where you are the miller, marketing agent as well as the buyer of the same coffee. The 2019 Coffee Regulations say “(4) A holder of a commercial miller’s licence or any other entity associated with such holder either in shareholding or directorship or in any other way, shall not be licensed as a broker, roaster or agent. Gitwe Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd, Iyego Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd, Thirikwa Farmers Co-Operative Society Ltd did not want to appeal the decision of Justice W. Korir on 11th Feb 2021 which stated “I reach the conclusion that this petition is without merit. The petition is therefore dismissed”, because they agreed with the judge and indeed, they now know better that this is not their battle as the new regulatory dispensation under the new coffee reforms will clearly help them own their coffee journey. We are aware you and other members of the Millers and Marketers Association financed these legal cases as the co-operative societies did not pay any legal costs. Why can you not go to court yourselves? Why hide behind farmers if what you are fighting is genuine? The Chairman of the society is acting on his own behalf and has no procedural documentation from the Supreme Governing body of the society to undertake such an We are aware that you (Coffee Management Services) and in your position as the Chairman of the Millers and Marketers association are the ones behind Rwama Farmers Co-operative Society’s appeal case of the decision by Hon. Justice W. Korir through Appeal E401 of 2021 at the Nairobi Court of Appeal which was filed in June 2021. We know that Rwama is not and has never paid for any court case nor has the Chairman received any Annual General Resolution from the members of the Co-operative to go to court on their behalf or spend coffee farmers money to pay for unnecessary legal Ngare, we are reliably informed that there are attempts from you and your organisation to frustrate the coffee reform process through the Judiciary by unfairly incentivizing our Honorable Judges financially so as to rule against and nullify The Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019 in the aforementioned Case Number E401 of 2021 lodged at the Nairobi Court of Appeal and other courts in the country Should you try to carry on with this evil plan, we shall not hesitate to act as follows; We shall immediately write to your headquarters through our children in the diaspora, our Embassies in your global headquarters to notify them that you are involved in an act of abuse of our Judicial process by arranging to corrupt Kenyan judges as well as lodge cases in court through unorthodox means where farmers entities are used without approval of through their AGMs and that the lawyers are paid by yourselves We shall notify your customers as well as the partners who work with you g Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance of your evil plan to hide behind farmers to fight National Government reforms that are aimed at empowering farmers We shall notify all your local and global partners through sustained campaigns until we expose you and your organisation! Rwama Farmers Co-operative Society will be required to demonstrate how they have funded these legal cases and if the chairman had authority from members to use their hard earned coffee money to pay for unnecessary legal The Lawyers and Judges who nullify The Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019 will be investigated to show their commercial incentive to rule against National Reforms that were developed to help coffee Farmers because of a few selfish We hope you will heed our call and allow the coffee reform agenda to take its natural course so that we, the coffee farmers, can own our crop from production to the markets like any other crop!
Sincerely. Concerned Coffee Farmers spread across the entire Country. Copy to: Council of Governors Westlands Delta House 2nd Floor, Waiyaki Way P.O Box 40401- 00100 Nairobi Directorate of Criminal Investigations Mazingira Complex, Kiambu Road,
Opp. Kenya Forest Service Headquarters, Karura P.O. BOX 30036 – 00100
Nairobi Kenya Commissioner of Co-operative Development Social-security-house-building-2 Social Security House, Block A, 17th, 23rd Floor ·
P.O. Box 30418-00100,
Nairobi, Kenya · Mr.Michael Sialai The Clerk, National Assembly Parliament Buildings
P.O Box 41842- 00100
Nairobi Kenya Attention: Chairperson of Committee on Delegated Legislations Mr. Jeremiah M. Nyegenye The Clerk of the Senate Parliament Buildings Nairobi Hon. Njeru Ndwiga Chairman,
Senate Agriculture Committee Parliament Buildings Nairobi