RICE.
JANE MUGAMBI 9TH DEC 2010.

In a bid to recover loans owed to it by defaulting rice farmers, a co-operative society in Kirinyaga County has resorted to using hired goons to forcefully harvest farmers' produce.

In a move that is not sitting well with the farmers and Mwea MP, Peter Gitau, the Mwea Multipurpose Co-operative Society has hired the services of the local Okoa gang who yesterday started harvesting the rice under the protection of armed policemen.

The gang, supported by a lorry to truck away the harvested produce, made lightning raids in shambas in Wamumu and Thiba blocks of the giant Mwea Irrigation Scheme as helpless farmers watched.

The MP and farmers accused the society of robbing them, saying their action was against a directive by the Co-operatives Appeals Tribunal that had advised the co-operative to devise other methods of recovering their money, other than harvesting farmers' crops forcefully.

The MP accused the local security machinery of abetting robbery by protecting the Okoa gang since there was no mechanism of determining the amount of paddy rice necessary to cover the defaulted loans.

Trouble for the farmers started four years ago when they delivered their produce to the society but it was unable to sell the rice because of uncontrolled imports.

The tribunal found that the society owes the same farmers money while it had not remitted money deducted from farmers to the National Irrigation Board (NIB) for water use.

A farmer, Mr. Samson Njuguna said the society had not remitted shs 73 million to the NIB and had not paid any dividends on income from machinery that the farmers bought after contributing shs 3,000 and two bags of paddy each.

Wilson Wokabi, another farmer whose rice was harvested yesterday, said he had refused the loan after the society refused to pay him for previous crop deliveries

The two farmers said the interest on the loans taken in form of inputs and mechanical services during the 2007 crop season had grown to 63 per cent.

The co-operative's officials refused to comment on the issue when the Star called.

Speaking on phone Mwea MP Peter Gitau said that he has consulted with the cooperatives minister Joe Nyaga who is going to take audience with the Internal security Permanent secretary Francis Kimemia.

He said that the PS is going to direct the provincial administrators to stop using the police to offer security when the rice is being cut by the saccos.

Gitau went on to say that the Cooperative minister will be addressing the issue which has turned to be thorny to most rice farmers in the near future assuring them that they are going to harvest their remaining acres without fear.

ends