Guard killed, coffee beans valued at Sh800,000 stolen

A watchman died and coffee berries valued at Sh800,000 stolen after robbers raided Kiangoi factory in Nyamira County on Tuesday night.

The guard who died was among three who were on duty during the night and who were caught up by the robbers.

He died while receiving treatment at Nyabondo Mission Hospital in Kisumu County alongside his two other colleagues.

The three watchmen guarding Kiangoi private coffee factory were attacked by robbers armed with crude weapons and tied them up before beating them, leaving them for the dead.

County Commissioner Amos Mariba confirmed the incident, saying the other two are still hospitalised following the midnight attack and that they were in stable condition.

The robbers first immobilized the guards before they broke into the stores and stole the coffee beans.

“The robbers managed to steal 20 bags of coffee beans whose value was placed at Sh800,000 and after they managed to tie up the watchmen, they transported the produce away using an unknown car,”

Mariba said the number of robbers who were involved in the incident could not be immediately established.

This is the second incident of theft of coffee from the same sub-county within a month with the other one being that of Nyangoko Coffee factory where beans valued at Sh80,000, a generator valued at Sh400,000 and plastic chairs were also stolen.

Three watchmen who were caretakers at the cooperative society during the time were also arrested on suspicion that they may have played part in the theft.

Following the spate of robberies of farmers’ produce, the County’s Security Committee has committed to increasing security surveillance to all factories in the region.

“We have been carrying out security surveillance services but now we are going to scale it further to curb any other future cases,” Mariba said.