Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked coffee farmers to be patient as the government works to break the network of cartels that have been operating in the subsector for decades.
Speaking on Monday during a burial in Nyeri County, the DP said the war to liberate the coffee subsector from the cartels will be won as the government works to link farmers directly to the international market.
"The oppressors are creating a perception that the government is losing the war on reforms. Let us be patient as they have oppressed us for 30 years. If we suffer for three months, can we die having suffered for three decades? We are on the verge of winning," he said.
Gachagua said the profiteering actors in the supply chain are spreading propaganda against the ongoing reforms, but that will not deter him from the assignment of liberating the farmer.
The spoke at Hiriga Village, Nyeri County, during the burial of Samuel Muthungu Kamuhia, his family's long-time friend.
Kamuhia, 84, was also a senior village elder.
The Deputy President also hosted officials of Baricho Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society at his Nyeri home where he updated them on the reforms.
"The brokers will find something else to do unless they pay us a minimum of Sh150 per kilogram; they can also quit completely," he said.
"I won't turn back in the reforms. In this war against coffee cartels, we will succeed. You bestowed us with leadership, we will ensure you get money in your pockets through your work and economic activities," the DP added.
As part of their strategy to curtail the ongoing reforms in the coffee, sector, Gachagua on Sunday claimed that cartels attempted to bribe him and Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi.
He said the cartels went to him with a promise to give him two shillings for every kilogram of coffee sold in the country but the DP also refused.
"Wamekuja kwa huyu Linturi akawaambia watembee. Huyu CS hawezi uza wakulima wa Kenya (They came to Linturi and he told them to go away. This CS cannot betray farmers)," Gachagua said while speaking in Meru.
He reaffirmed the same stance on Monday saying the government is keen on helping its people "because that is the right thing to do".
In his condolence message, the DP described Kamuhia as an adorable elder, an advisor and a conflict resolver in the village.
"He was a close friend of my parents. He was loving and compassionate to all people. It is a major loss to the community. We will feel the gap and miss him dearly."