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Senate deputy speaker Kathuri Murungi has called on the government to audit and probe all private coffee millers across the country following the increasing coffee theft cases.

Speaking at Kariene in Central Imenti, Murungi, who is also the Meru Senator, urged the Ministry of Agriculture headed by Mithika Linturi to move with speed and collect all the necessary data on the source and volumes of coffee produced in the private factories.

While condemning the Thursday last week robbery of coffee estimated at Ksh7 million and the killing of two night guards at Mariene Factory in the area, Kathuri at the same time called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to fast track the investigation and arrest the culprits who are still at large.

“Cases of coffee theft in the factories are rampant and alarming now we are calling on the Ministry of Agriculture which is headed by Mithika Linturi who is also from the region to step in, investigate and come up with proper data of the production levels of every private factory to curb any loophole of thieves selling the stolen coffee to the private sector,” Kathuri said.

He at the same time noted coffee theft in the Mt Kenya region has become a norm making the government lose millions of shillings in the sector.

“The Ministry of Agriculture needs to work hand in hand with the security agencies to unravel the mystery of the whereabouts of large amounts of coffee getting lost from the affected factories,” noted the senator.

Senator visits victim’s family

Speaking when he visited the families of the deceased, Murungi said security should be beefed especially during harvest seasons.

During the 2:00 am incident, the culprits raided the factory and stole 200 bags of coffee before loading them onto a waiting truck for transportation to an unknown destination.

Meru Sub-county police commander Justin Njeru said investigations are still ongoing, calling on residents to volunteer any information to help the police arrest of gang.

This comes as President William Ruto announced the government waiver of Ksh6.9 billion coffee debt in a broader scheme to revamp the lucrative coffee industry.