Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now claims that coffee cartels have compromised the press in a move meant to interfere with the coffee sector and undermine his efforts to reform the sector.
Speaking at the MCK church in Kaleo, Igembe North, Meru county on Sunday, October 1, the DP accused the media of colluding with the ‘cartels’ to spread misinformation on sponsored newspapers and opinion polls regarding the government’s efforts to reform the sector.
The country’s second-in-command went on to claim that the aforementioned ‘cartels’ were creating havoc by stealing from farmers for the last fifty years.
While urging farmers to hang tight and trust in his efforts to reform the sector, the DP made it clear that despite the ‘cartels’ interfering with the sector, the President William Ruto-led administration remains unshaken by their theatrics.
“Hawa macartel wa kahawa wamekua wakitusumbua, wamekua wakiibia wakulima zaidi ya miaka hamsini. Lakini nataka kuwaambia wakulima wavumilie, lakini tuko tayari.
“They have compromised the press and people within the government tuko na wasaliti ndani ya serikali ambao wanafanya kazi na brokers wa Kahawa and I want to tell them President William Ruto and I cannot be intimidated,” Gachagua stated.
Further, the DP assured coffee farmers of the government’s support in reforming the sector and ensuring that the ‘cartels’ no longer jeopardize activity in the sector. He reiterated that the farmers should patiently wait for the government to salvage the situation.
“I want to assure our coffee farmers, the reforms we have started we cannot stop. Those reforms started in 2019 wakauzia serikali uoga ikakua suspended for one year.