Tuesday, 1 April, 2025
Committee on Implementation conducts inspection tour of cashew nuts factory in move to support house bid to revive sector ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ
The National Assembly Committee on Implementation has found out that 300 acres out of a total 350 acres of land belonging to the former Kenya Cashew Nuts Factory in Kilifi is occupied by squatters.
During a site visit to the factory this weekend, the Raphael Wanjala-led committee also discovered that the factoryโs main machine building no longer has equipment, but is now an empty floor space in what was previously a bustling factory setup.
The Committee was in Kilifi County on an inspection visit as a follow up on the implementation status of the petition regarding the restoration and revival of the Kenya Cashew Nuts Factory in Kilifi presented to the National Assembly by Hon. Owen Yaa Baya on behalf of Kilifi farmers.
In its heydays, the factory, built in 1975, had a processing capacity of 15,000 tonnes of cashew nuts per year and was initially owned by the Kenyan government with 65% shares of the factory, while farmers (through KDCU) owned 35%.
However, the MPs only found empty factory buildings manned by a caretaker, with literally nothing close to an economic activity taking place.
Available information indicates that the factory was controversially taken over by Kenya Planters and Products Limited (KPPL) and Cashew Development Investment Limited (CDI), depriving the farmers of their rightful ownership.
Further, mismanagement, legal battles, and financial struggles (including a KES 95M loan default) set in, leading to the factoryโs closure in the year 2000. The factory was then auctioned in 2003 to Millennium Management Ltd for KES 58 million, despite a pending court injunction.
Since its collapse, cashew nut farmers have suffered from poverty, lack of market access, and unpaid salaries and this led the Speaker to commit the petition to the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock for its consideration and response to the Petitioner pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 227 (1).
Other Committee members present during the site inspection were: Hon. Memusi Kanchory (Kajiado Central), Hon. Lillian Siyoi (Trans-Nzoia), Hon. Kibet Kimingoi (Bureti), Hon. Stanley Muthama (Lamu West) and Hon. Chege Njuguna (Kandara).
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) were also present.
The Committee has resolved to exhaustively engage other stakeholders involved in an upcoming meeting to pinpoint who was responsible for the collapse and takeover of the factory, that triggered dwindling fortunes for local cashew nut farmers.