A police squad is camping in a village in Meru to investigate the macabre murder of a night guard at a village in Meru County in a robbery of bags of coffee.
The gang raided Kagurine Coffee Factory and stole 63 bags of coffee valued at Sh3 million.
The body of Aloice Gitonga was found in the factory with his hands and legs tied with ropes.
Police said his eyes were also covered with a piece of cloth while his mouth had been stuffed with another cloth then.
A team that visited the scene established the factory store doors had been broken into and coffee stolen.
A manager had reported to the factory on May 29 and established Gitonga was unresponsive.
A search was then conducted and led to the discovery of the body in the factory.
Police said a team of detectives is camping in the area to get the gang behind the incident.
It has emerged the gang had arrived with a vehicle that they used in carrying the stolen cargo.
The squad has talked to various parties as part of the probe into the murder and robbery.
Similar incidents have happened in some factories and led to the loss of lives and property.
Several reforms have been proposed in the coffee sector to make it more lucrative.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has promised to get rid of cartels in the coffee sub-sector and work with stakeholders to address the challenges affecting farmers’ income.
Gachagua said the government will deal firmly with the multiple brokers and middlemen in the coffee production chain so as to improve the situation of the farmers.
“There are multiple brokers between the coffee farmer and the consumer.
Those brokers have oppressed farmers for many years.
President William Ruto gave me the mandate to lead the exercise of removing the middlemen so the farmer can reap more,” he said.
Gachagua said he has convened a three-day coffee stakeholders’ conference in Meru to address the challenges facing the sector.
The DP said the coffee conference will be held in Meru from June 6 to 8, 2023 and the stakeholders expected to attend include government officials, lawmakers, Governors, coffee farmers, experts, marketers, and roasters among others.
“After the three days we will decide on the way forward such as proposals on legal reforms and the strategies to deploy so that the coffee farmers can regain the lost glory of the sub-sector and have money in their pockets,” said Gachagua.
He is leading the reforms spearheaded by the Coffee Sub-Sector Reforms Implementation Standing Committee.
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