Police in Murang’a have seized a lorry transporting coffee valued at Sh3 million which had been stolen from Ndugamano Coffee Factory in Kigumo Constituency.
According to Kigumo Sub-County Administration Police Commander Samuel Kombe, the officers acted after guards raised the alarm after armed robbers stormed the factory.
When police arrived at the factory, the thieves sped off with 15 sacks of coffee leaving behind another 27 sacks outside the factory gate.
The police boss said they pursued the suspects and alerted their counterparts at Maragua Police Station who managed to block the road and stop the lorry.
SUSPECTS FLEE
However, the suspects and the driver jumped from the lorry and fled.
“When the suspects knew they have been cornered, they abandoned the lorry and escaped. The search for the suspects has begun,” Mr Kombe said noting that they are pursuing about 20 people who were seen by the guards at the factory.
The AP boss said they suspect that the theft was an inside job, given that there has been leadership wrangles at the factory where coffee farmers are set to hold a special general meeting on August 9 to oust the current office bearers, a move he said may have triggered the theft.
He noted that the fact that thieves only targeted grade one coffee and not grade two was another indication that the people behind the theft were well conversant with the factory.
“We shall not leave any stone unturned [until we get] the culprits and arraign them in court for stealing what belongs to farmers [who] toil and moil only for their sweat to be taken advantage of by a few greedy individuals,” the AP boss said.
He noted that this not the first time theft is happening, noting that last year, another theft was foiled after guards raised the alarm, forcing the thieves to abandon their mission.
Mr Kombe said the latest incident happened between 2am and 3am Thursday.
Embu County
Armed gangsters raided Minai Coffee Factory in Runyenjes Constituency and stole 75 bags of clean coffee worth Sh2.7million in June.
They ambushed the watchman, tied his hands with a rope, took his phone and threw it away after removing its battery, then stormed the store.
The watchman, Mr Waweru Njagi, 64, who reported the incident at Kamuthatha police post, said the gangsters were armed with crude weapons such as metal bars with which they used to break the factory’s padlock.
They then carried the coffee on their backs for about 150 metres and loaded it into a waiting lorry and left at around 5am.
Mr Njagi said he suffered bruised and swollen arms. “They placed a metal rod in my mouth and warned me that I would be killed if I screamed,” he said.
IMPROVED PRODUCTION
Confirming the incident, Embu Cooperatives Director David Muriuki said the coffee was being readied for transportation and was stored in 50-kilogramme bags. He said the farmers had improved their production and were expecting good returns.
“The watchman was tied with ropes during the 4am incident near Riverside, Ena. We will be holding a meeting with police since they are helping us with investigations,” said Mr Muriuki.
Embu East Police boss Peter Thenya said the matter had been reported but he did not have details as he is on leave. Last year, farmers in Embu lost coffee worth millions of shillings to thieves.
The emergence of cartels specialising in coffee theft in Central Kenya has left majority of peasant farmers wallowing in poverty. This is besides the numerous challenges facing the once lucrative coffee sector.