Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua has come out to reveal how cartels in order to benefit coffee farmers.
Speaking in Hiriga Village in Nyeri during the burial of one of his long-time family friend Samuel Muthungu Kamuhia, the Deputy President said that he and Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi were approached with hefty bribes to loosen their resolve to fight for coffee farmers.
“Wamekuja kwa huyu Linturi akawaambia watembee. Huyu CS hawezi uza wakulima wa Kenya (They came to Linturi and he told them to go away. This CS cannot betray farmers),” Gachagua said while speaking in Meru.
He reaffirmed the same stance on Monday saying the government is keen on helping its people “because that is the right thing to do”.
The DP said that there has been an exerted effort for thirty years from powerful people to make sure that coffee farmers are impoverished. However, this time round, the DP was asure that there would never be cartels between coffee farmers and international markets. “The brokers will find something else to do unless they pay us a minimum of Sh150 per kilogram; they can also quit completely,” he said.
“I won’t turn back in the reforms. In this war against coffee cartels, we will succeed. You bestowed us with leadership, we will ensure you get money in your pockets through your work and economic activities,” the DP added.
