70 bags of coffee stolen in suspected inside job

By Boniface Gikandi

Police boss blames incident on factory committee members, says team shielding night guards on duty

Thieves stole 70 bags of coffee from Karurumo coffee factory in Murang’a County.

In what is suspected to be an inside job, a gang drove into the coffee factory and packed coffee beans in gunny bags from the drying beds barely days after the Coffee Board of Kenya issued a movement permit to the factory management.

Last year, coffee growing in the Mt Kenya region was rocked by increased incidents of coffee thefts leaving trails of destruction and death of security guards.

Yesterday, Murang’a South OCPD Mr Antony Onyango described the theft as a “well-calculated move involving some errant members of the management committee and a section of the employees”.

Barred police

Onyango said this after it emerged that the incident was reported to the police at 11pm despite robbers invading shortly after 1am.

“The management committees have become uncooperative with officers investigating the case. They have barred police from arresting the watchmen who were on duty,” said Onyango. Insiders at the coffee factory reported that the guards who were on duty were tied with ropes as the gang fled with coffee bags.

Due to the theft, the Coffee Board of Kenya ordered management of cooperative societies to take precautions in the factories to prevent such incidents.

In a circular from Murang’a Coffee Advisory Officer Mr Samuel Mwau, the farmers institutions were also asked to ensure safety of coffee while in transit. “This a reminder to all after the last security meetings held to ensure safety of coffee at the stores and while on transit,” said Mwau in a circular also copied to county commissioner Ms Kula Hache and OCPDs in the county.