PPCK reclaims control of Sh5 billion assets to curb losses

Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya head office in Nakuru. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya (PPCK) has clarified that it has taken over the management of all its assets to seal gaps brought about by agency management.

The state-owned company said the move is meant to mitigate the loss of income and improve efficiency.

The company possesses assets estimated to be worth over Sh5 billion, including land and houses spread across 18 pyrethrum growing counties. The company also owns machinery and motor vehicles.

Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carolyne Imbwaga said the company, through its board had set up a committee to safeguard all of its assets.

"The committee, set up in 2021, will also manage tenants who have rented some of the company's property. They have taken steps to ensure all the company assets are safe," she said.

According to Imbwaga, the company's board noticed gaps in the assets management and cancelled contracts with companies linked to the gaps.

Further, Imbwaga said that all tenants in Nakuru, Kericho, Nyandarua, Bomet, Meru and Kisii counties are paying rent directly to PPCK's directorate bank account.

The acting CEO clarified that a contract with the management firm was cancelled in June 2022, after the board and the committee observed gaps in the management of its properties.

She said the committee set-up internally ensures that there is an efficient and effective collection of rent.

She also clarified that the company has engaged government parastatals including the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) to recover assets grabbed from the company.

"We are also fast-tracking the process of ensuring that properties without title deeds are processed in a bid to discourage and mitigate land grabbing," she said.

Imbwaga spoke in response to a statement by a lobby group-Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance, who questioned the engagement of PPCK with the management company.

In the statement by its Secretary General, George Narok, dated May 13, 2025, the society claimed that the company was mismanaging the PPCK's assets.

According to Narok, proper process had not been followed in the engagement process before Bonkam was contracted and the terms of agreement were never made public.

"The company's revival strategy cannot be achieved unless the government comes out to fight the cartels taking the company's rich properties like their own," he deposed.

The society also claimed that the government had injected funds for PPCK's revival and training, yet it was among the companies listed for liquidation.

In response, however, Imbwaga maintained that the government has yet to pump in enough money to support the company. She called for support to realize the dream of tapping into the international market.

She said they had strategised to increase their acreage from 5,000 to 70,000 and enhance production of clean planting materials, in order to regain its position in the international market.

"We need financial help from the government. We have experienced managers who can undertake all activities in the company," said Imbwaga in response to claims that PPCK managers were unqualified.

Although contested by the company, the Auditor General's reports have highlighted issues with asset management, including unrecorded disposals and missing ownership documents.

Reports also indicate that the actual rent collectable from the company's leased assets is significantly higher than what is currently being reported in audits.