Disparities in coffee payment sparks probe in Nyeri County

Othaya MP Mary Wambui and Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi join students in a dance at Iria-ini Girls Secondary School in Nyeri on March 28, 2015 at a fundraiser to buy a school bus. “We are seeing figures here but when you go to the ground it is a different thing. This is not the money that farmers received,” said Ms Wambui. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The investigations were prompted by a petition by farmers to the National Assembly asking for audited accounts of coffee produce in 2014.
• According to the authority, 6,797,978 kilos of coffee were sold from the county last year.

By NATION REPORTER
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MPs from Nyeri County have disputed the amount provided by the regulator as payment for coffee produce from the region last year.

The Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Authority told the MPs Thursday that the farmers in Nyeri received similar payments to those in neighbouring counties, but the legislators protested. The members travelled to Nyeri County later in the afternoon to investigate the matter.

“We are seeing figures here but when you go to the ground it is a different thing. This is not the money that farmers received,” said Othaya MP Mary Wambui.

The investigations were prompted by a petition by farmers to the National Assembly asking for audited accounts of coffee produce in 2014. According to the authority, 6,797,978 kilos of coffee were sold from the county last year.

This earned farmers $25,255,837 (Sh2,247,769,493).

The regulator said farmers in Nyeri were paid between Sh30 and Sh50, compared to those in Kirinyaga county, who received between Sh30 and Sh55. The best paid coffee factory in Meru was Sh56 per kilo of cherry compared to the best paid in Nyeri at Sh68.

Mukurweini MP Kabando wa Kabando said the disparity in payments between coffee factories in the same locality was too large, adding that the regulator should investigate how this was happening.