Shocking Revelation: Rigathi Accuses Coffee Cartels of Poisoning Brother Nderitu Gachagua
Sunday, Vice President Rigathi Gachagua stated that his family believes that the dangerous and wealthy coffee cartel poisoned his late brother, Nderitu Gachagua, causing his health to deteriorate and his death.
Gachagua spoke during an interview on the Kiririmbi show on Inooro TV, shortly after the conclusion of a two-day coffee summit in Meru.
Despite the risks, he stated that the government is determined to defeat the coffee cartel that has a stranglehold on Kenyan farmers to restore the profitability of the sector.
“Our family believes, and we know, that those individuals poisoned the late Nderitu Gachagua,” Gachagua told Michael Njenga of Inooro TV.
“Since then, a previously very healthy person has become ill, and we believe that these people are to blame,”
According to Gachagua, the coffee cartels that have exploited Kenyan farmers over the years in collusion with shady government officials maintained their power by bribing top government officials.
Despite selling one bag of coffee abroad for as much as $1,000 (approximately Ksh. 138,943), the cartels and brokers who also act as marketers only give the farmer $200 (approximately Ksh.
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“The farmer is paid in shillings, but the coffee is sold abroad in dollars. Due to exchange rates, the farmer loses an additional 6 or 7 shillings because this industry has been taken over by very sly, wealthy people,” said Gachagua.
The danger posed by the cartels is so great, he said, that only he and the president have the security and resources to lead the fight against it.
“The president assigned me the task of leading these people because at least I have more resources, including security, as these are not good people,” stated DP Gachagua.
“The president asked me to assemble several CSs; we have CS Kuria, CS Mithika Linturi of Agriculture, and CS Chelugui of Co-operatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development,”
“Governors cannot win this war; only the DP and the president can do so; these individuals are dangerous and can kill you,”
During the same interview, Gachagua claimed that when President Ruto announced his cabinet, the coffee cartels sent an emissary bearing a Ksh.30 million ‘welcome gift’ to Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi.
“They attempted to bribe our Cabinet Secretary, Mithika Linturi, with Ksh 30 million when our government took power,” Gachagua said.
They claimed that the money came from these cartels and was a welcome gift for him.
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Gachagua went on to say that since the governor of Embu exposed the cartel leaders, her security has been increased at her homes in Nairobi and Embu to ensure her safety.
He added that after the cartels were exposed, they spent the next day in central Kenya attempting to bribe lawmakers in their favor with bags of cash.
“After they were exposed, they spent the next day attempting to bribe our leaders to vouch for them; one of them has been very vocal, and we suspect they may have been bribed; we are investigating,” he continued.
In the meantime, DP Gachagua stated that the government will implement the recommendations from the two-day coffee summit in Meru once they have been refined by a select team comprised of industry stakeholders.
The Coffee Bill of 2023 proposes the re-establishment of the Coffee Board of Kenya as one of the recommendations for revitalizing the formerly illustrious sector.
The construction of coffee aggregation centers to improve coffee quality and the empowerment of the Pest Control Board to regulate pesticides and combat coffee diseases are additional suggestions.
Within the next 90 days, action will be taken on the recommendations.
Shocking Revelation: Rigathi Accuses Coffee Cartels of Poisoning Brother Nderitu Gachagua
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