Following the theft of over 50 bags of coffee parchment worth Sh3 million at Gacugu Factory in Embu West Sub-county on Tuesday night, security agencies in Embu County have put in place a raft of measures to curb such further incidents.
The theft has sparked widespread fears among farmers with the approaching harvesting season that coffee theft syndicates may be making a comeback.
Embu County Commissioner Mr. Jack Obuo said all the 57 coffee factories spread across the county will be guarded by armed officers, especially at night, commensurate with the amount of stock in their stores.
Speaking after chairing a security meeting on Friday at his office, the CC said they will also be on hand to escort coffee while on transit to the market to protect farmers’ earnings.
He advised factories not to retain too much stock in their stores at any one time so that it does not attract the motivation to steal from illegal merchants. “We want to ensure that coffee is available at all times in the stores or within the factory at a minimum,” he said.
He also said they will impress upon all the factories to enhance their security measures by installing CCTV cameras to track the movement of people in and out of the factories. “Some of these things might be acts of collusion at the factory level, and so it is necessary to have these tracking devices in place,” he said.
The administrator further announced that all security guards will be vetted afresh to rid society of individuals who cannot be trusted. He expressed concern that most of the factories were guarded by elderly guards who could be easy targets for the thugs.
“The thugs who went to Gacugu Factory had an easy time; they just tied the watchmen with ropes, did what they did, and just walked away,” Obuo said.
He further reported that two individuals have been arrested and are being interrogated by the DCI, noting that good progress had been made with regard to what transpired on the material date.
By Samuel Waititu
