Wrangles,
Disgruntled coffee farmers allied to New Gaturi Coffee society have vowed to continue holding demonstrations until their grievances over recently elected leaders were addressed.
The farmers, who demanded the removal of the new leaders from office on Monday held their fourth demonstrations this month, claiming the elections of the officials was flawed. The irate farmers asked governor Irungu Kang’ata to intervene and solve the leadership wrangles of the giant cooperative society saying the persisting interruptions of the society’s operations was impacting negatively in the running of the society.
The farmers claimed they no longer trust the current leadership, accusing some of them of having been in same offices when the society incurred debts amounting to Sh. 51 million some years back. One of the farmers, Muchoki Macharia alleged that the current leaders assumed power through the backdoor, bypassing the wishes of the majority of farmers who did not elect them.
He stated that under their previous tenure, the cooperative incurred a debt of Sh.51 million, which has been partially cleared by the former administration. “Some of the currently elected leaders in the flawed elections served this society in the past and unfortunately during their tenure, they left the cooperative with a debt of Sh.51 million, which has been partially serviced by the previous management,” he stated.
Macharia further alleged that immediately they got into power in August this year, they changed signatories of the cooperative, raising concerns among farmers that they might be planning to sink the cooperative into more debts. Jesse Waithaka, chairman of the Geitwa Factory which is affiliated to the society, noted that farmers have suspended operations in the factory in protest over the new leadership.
Waithaka said the farmers fear for the safety of their coffee as the same management was in power when their produce went missing from the factory. “Farmers from Geitwa Factory do not trust the new officials of the society as their produce was stolen when the newly elected management was in power of the cooperative society,” he said.
Lucy Kariuki, another member of the cooperative, urged the county governor to intervene and call for new elections. She emphasized that the farmers have been demonstrating for a long time without any solution being found and warned they would stage further protests at the governor’s office if their grievances are not addressed.
“If our issues will not be addressed, we will stage demonstrations in the governor’s office,” she said. The farmers claim the elections of new members of the management board led by the chairman King’aiya Gikonyo did not follow the stipulated procedure.
They argued that people were allowed to vote using their national identity cards instead of farmers’ coffee delivery cards as required by the regulations.