Kenyan MPs Speak Out Against Corruption

Kenyan farmers have long been talking about and openly protesting against alleged corruption within their country’s coffee industry. Everything and everybody from Low-level deals to the running of the KPCU and even certain government ministers have drawn suspicious glances over the years.

Now, a group of regional MPs have made a move to support the farmers and have demanded that President Uhuru Kenyatta finally makes a move to tackle the problematic issue.

Explaining their decision to speak out on the issue and call for action, Kabando Wa Kabando, the MP for Mukurwe-ini, said, “we have tried to fight local and national coffee cartels but at every turn their vicious networks fright back ruthlessly.

“Even Parliamentary committees are not spared. Investigations are ‘compromised’ as soon as they are completed.”

In a post, published on Facebook, he stated that MPs who question dubious deals become the victim of coordinated smear campaigns.

Nyeri Town MP, Esther Murugi, echoed her support for Kabando’s comments and praised the work of the Daily Nation for their investigative journalism on the issue.

“It is time the President removes the corrupt people and makes them return all they stole,” she added.

The third politician to speak out and challenge President Kenyatta was Peter Weru, the MP for the Mathira constituency. Weru questioned the legitimacy of those who were applying for state-sponsored coffee farming bursaries, suggesting that a large number of the record applicants did not intend to move into the industry.

He also called for the formation of a committee to investigate this and other matters linked to the coffee sector.

Farmers have also moved to up the ante, demanding that action is to be taken within the next ten days by the President. Failure to do so could result in a strike, which will delay the harvesting of this season’s crop.