CAPTION: Kipkelion Coffee Mill A section of coffee farmers from Kericho County has called for urgent investigations into a suspected case of fraud at the Kipkelion Coffee Mill where over 30 bags of produce due for export to South Korea mysteriously disappeared but later found hidden inside a warehouse.
The coffee was procured from the Sombo Factory Society earlier in the year and they informed members it would all be traded by March.
They paid farmers Sh83 per kilo, which was the least amount compared to other societies in the region that paid up to Sh100 for the same quantity.
Mathew Bore, the Chairman of the Sombo Factory Society, as well as a board member of Kipkelion Coffee Mill, reportedly told farmers that their coffee had fetched poor pricing because it was of inferior quality.
However, as members later rudely came to find out, the corrupt Kipkelion Coffee board mischievously plotted a scheme to hide some bags so they could sell them privately and wire the illicit proceeds into their personal bank accounts.
When stakeholders unearthed their evil plan, the directors convened an emergency meeting on Monday, 20 June, where they secretly organized to transport the coffee to Nairobi at night.
Members now fear they might not get paid. “Hi, Nyakundi, Please post something on the Kipkelion Coffee Mill saga. They hid some bags of coffee which were supposed to be exported to South Korea. About 34 of the bags were stolen from the Sombo Factory Society. All the bags were supposed to have been moved by March. Members were told that all their coffee was sold. They gave them Sh83 per kilo instead of Sh100, like other societies in Kenya. The recent developments show that the Board of Directors has been hiding some bags to sell privately and money wired into their accounts. The board of management had a meeting on Monday, 20 June. They transported the number of bags to Nairobi. Members are waiting to be told if they are going to be paid. They transported it at night. Mathew Bore is the Chairman of the Sombo Factory Society. He is also a primary school headteacher in Nandi county and chairperson of the Kipkelion Coffee Mill board. Sombo Society had the least amount of payment compared to other societies. The chairperson who is also serving in the same capacity at Kipkelion Coffee Mill told members that their coffee had fetched poor pricing because of poor quality, only for farmers to realize that some of their produce was hidden in a warehouse at Kipkelion Coffee Mill. They told members they auctioned all the coffee only to realize some of it was were hidden,” the source laments.