Murango seeks urgent senate probe into Dairy and Coffee sector disruptions

Senate Chamber
Thursday, 5th June 2025

Senator James Murango of Kirinyaga County has called for urgent Senate investigations into two directives significantly affecting local farmers. Rising to seek statements from the Floor of the Senate, Murango criticized the Ministry's directive mandating direct payment to coffee farmers from the Nairobi Coffee Exchange. He questioned whether proper consultations with cooperative societies had occurred.

"Farmers deserve transparency," Murango stated. "We must know if stakeholders were consulted adequately before issuing this directive. Its impact on cooperative societies and small-scale coffee growers could be severe."

He also urged the Agriculture Committee to assess the directive's constitutional compliance, its economic impacts on cooperatives, and whether small-scale farmers are protected from increased costs and unfair market practices.

Separately, Murango highlighted concerns from Kirima Slopes Dairy Cooperative farmers, affected by drastic reductions in milk collections by the New KCC and Meru Central Dairy Union. He revealed that the sudden drop from 75,000 litres daily to just 15,000 litres has left farmers losing over KES 2 million each day.

"Farmers were blindsided," Murango argued. "They need immediate solutions, not storage crises." He asked the committee to investigate the abrupt changes, propose solutions for surplus milk, and address unfair regional treatment and competition from dairy imports.