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The Nairobian

Othaya coffee factory theft a hoax, police now say

Central

By Job Weru | Feb 04, 2016

Farmers sort out Coffee berries before weigh in and delivery at Gachatha Coffee Society compound in Wamagana area, within Tetu, in Nyeri County

NYERI: The recently reported robbery at a coffee factory in Othaya was a ploy to defraud farmers, police and Government officials have said.

The factory's management had claimed 200 bags of parchment coffee worth Sh7 million was stolen.

However, an audit taken on Tuesday indicated that the factory had 7,757kg of surplus coffee, which came from the coffee cherries farmers delivered. The surplus coffee, which the management could not account for, was estimated to be worth millions of shillings.

Speaking to journalists at the factory in Nyeri South sub-county, Deputy County Commissioner Evans Ogwankwa, said the investigation indicated that there was no burglary as alleged on Sunday morning.

"We involved the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and we decided to go through the farmers' deliveries since the alleged thieves broke into offices and stole records," said Mr Ogwankwa.

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An investigation on all deliveries found that farmers delivered 257,263kg of coffee but management claimed 256,562.5kg was delivered.

The cherries were expected to produce 36,752kg of coffee, but the investigation conducted on Tuesday revealed that there were 44,509kg of parchment coffee. "This means there was more coffee than that which was delivered, and at the same time, we suspect that management committees of coffee factories have been stealing from the farmers right from when they deliver cherries," said Ogwankwa.

Nyeri County Commissioner Onesmus Musyoka and County Police Commander Eunice Kihiko said the investigation unearthed a syndicate, which involved factory management, senior staff and sometimes millers. "We are getting to the bottom of these fake coffee thefts once and for all. We are about to conclude the investigation after which we must take all involved to court," Mr Musyoka said.

Musyoka said the factory manager, a clerk and watchmen must be prosecuted for giving false information to the police. He also called on coffee farmers to demand transparency from their management committees, saying the case was an eye-opener to the underhand games the officials have been playing.

And yesterday, hundreds of bags of parchment coffee from the factory were transported to Thika Coffee Mills, with farmers commending the Government for the swift investigation.