- The plant offered job opportunities to over 300
- Farmers had a ready market for all their fresh produce
Image: George Murage
Farmers from Nyandarua are calling on the government to urgently reopen the Sh600 million Midland vegetable processing plant in Njabini, Kinangop constituency.
In a petition to President William Ruto, they said they are incurring losses running into millions of shilling daily due to lack of a market in the agriculture-rich area.
The farmers said six months after the President directed the CS for Agriculture Mithika Linturi to intervene and have the plant reopened, nothing had been done.
For years, the ownership of the plant has been in dispute with the Ministry of Agriculture laying ownership of the land leading to a protracted court case.
According to former MCA Wahome Kamoce, farmers in the area were counting losses running into millions of shillings every year due to lack of market for their produce.
Kamoce, who is a director of the company, said the plant, if operational, would have come in handy and alleviate the farmers' suffering as farm produce goes to waste.
“The President directed the CS for Agriculture to withdraw the court case and if this can be done, prices of a sack of potatoes can rise from the current Sh2,000 to Sh11,000,” he said.
Addressing the press after a farmers meeting in Njabini, Kamoce called on elected leaders in the county to intervene and have the plant back in operation.
“We are aware of a plan by some government officers to sell this plant to a third party and as shareholders, we shall not allow such a thing,” he said.
Matheri Wa Hungu pointed an accusing finger at CS Linturi for failing to heed the presidential directive and avoiding meeting the farmers.
Matheri, who is also a director of the company, called on the President and his deputy to intervene, noting that the processing plant had the potential of changing the region’s economy.
“The President ordered the CS to intervene and we are wondering why the delay. We ask DP Rigathe Gachagua as the leader of Central Kenya, to come to our rescue,” he said.
A farmer, David Ragwe, said the President had in the past intervened and helped farmers in Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley and the Coast and wondered why Nyandarua had been forgotten.
“This plant has the capability of creating job opportunities for hundreds of unemployed youths and creating a market for all the fresh produce in this region,” he said.