Members of the county assembly have demanded an update on the status of a multi-million-shilling coffee factory.
Kavutiri Coffee Mill was constructed and equipped at a cost of over Sh100 million five years ago but is yet to start milling cherry.
The MCAs said they were concerned that the factory, which was one of Governor Martin Wambora’s flagship projects, could turn out to be a white elephant.
In a recent interview, factory chairman John Maruku revealed that farmers were struggling to service a Sh90 million loan obtained from the Commodities Fund to buy machinery. The loan has now ballooned to Sh127 million.,
On Wednesday, Ruguru Ngandori MCA Muturi Mwombo sought a statement from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperative Development executive on the county government’s stake in the coffee factory.
“Ownership of the mill is still not clear and it is not known what part belongs to the county government and what belongs to other investors,” said Mr Mwombo.
During a previous cooperative meeting, officials had revealed that the county had contributed Sh40 million so far while the rest of the finances came from 24 cooperative societies, which have a membership of about 110,000.
Speaking during a county assembly plenary sitting, Mwombo also demanded to be furnished with information on when the coffee mill would be operationalised.
“The facility has gobbled up a substantial amount of public funds yet it does not seem like it will be functional any time soon,” he said.
The ward representative expressed fears that the Sh127 million loan owed to financiers would be repaid by coffee farmers despite not benefiting from the facility.
Speaker Josiah Thiriku ordered the Agriculture Committee to make inquiries on the matter and report back to the House within one day, after which he would give further directions.
Deputy Speaker Steve Simba said they were concerned after realising that the facility had cost more than Sh100 million to set up, and an extra Sh30 million to tarmack an access road, yet no milling was taking place.
Mr Simba urged the national and county governments to partner and clear the loan owed to the financiers, or waive it temporarily to stop interest from accruing until production had started.
The MCAs warned that some coffee cooperative societies were planning to withdraw from the venture for fear of being forced to repay the loan
A cooperative official had previously revealed that each society was to pay Sh3.8 million for the loan.
