REVEALED;
Secret Waititu – Del Monte deal likely to cost Githunguri farmers
On Thursday 16th August 2018, Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu aka Babayao accompanied by his County Secretary Dr. Martin Njogu Mbugua and the leader of Majority in the Assembly Anthony Ikonya secretly met with American billionaire businessman and Del Monte Managing Director Stergios Gkaliamoutsas for talks on the renewal of the food processing firm’s leasehold.
The high profile meeting at Palacino Hotel in Kilimani area of Nairobi, off Dennis Pritt Road lasted several hours and was a culmination of several other meetings between Waititu and Stergios men as the former attempted to negotiate and cut a favourable deal upon renewal of the 8,000-acre land for another 99 years.
For two months now, details of the Del Monte land deal has remained sketchy, despite Thika Town MP Wainaina Wa Jungle and Kiambu Women Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba confronting Waititu on this matter. According to Wainaina and Wamuchomba, the food processor surrendered 1,000 acres of land and not 635 acres as announced by Waititu on 7th November when the deal was publicly signed.
Reliable sources indicate that, Stergios had agreed to surrender 1,000 acres of land to the people of Kiambu. In a separate matter, the firm after a tussle with Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria accepted to surrender 1,000 acres up from their initial offer of 500 acres to the people of Murang’a for public use. However Murang’a leaders backtracked on their decision to accept 1,000 acres and instead demanded for 3,000 acres in order for the county to renew the leasehold for land under its jurisdiction – the matter is in court.
Back to Hotel Palacino, Waititu expressed that it was insane for ‘them’ to negotiate such a huge resource for the people of Kiambu and remain ‘empty hands.’ It is at this stage an idea was hatched. First, Stergios offered to hive off 400 acres of the 1,000 acres and transfer to a third party entity owned by Waititu.
However, this idea could not work, Waititu expressed that the ongoing purge on corruption by the DCI and DPP had gained a serious momentum and he wouldn’t want a traceable transaction. Upon this realization, Stergios then proposed valuation of the ‘token land’ be conducted immediately. This would form the bases of ‘compensation’ to Waititu as the lead broker in this deal. After lengthy consultations with valuers both in Nairobi and Kiambu, an agreement was reached.
Waititu argued that, Thika is an industrial hub and the land is both productive and accessible for agriculture, real estate, or industries thus expensive. An amicable agreement was reached. Both parties settled for Ksh 10million per acre. In total, Del Monte agreed to settle Ksh 3.6billion, making an initial deposit of Ksh 1.8billion with the balance payable in two years in a three installments plan of roughly Ksh 0.6billion each.
Speaking on a condition of anonymity, an aide of Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria confirmed knowledge of the shady dealings and transactions between Waititu and Del Monte, “Kwani mnafikiria hizo nyumba ananunua Nairobi nipesa anachapisha? That’s why our governor insisted on them surrendering 3,000 acres,” he quipped, referring to Waititu’s latest appetite for prime properties in Nairobi and Mombasa worth hundreds of millions.
In the give and take of this deal, Stergios Gkaliamoutsas expressed that, Del Monte was interested in the dairy industry venture, currently dominated by the Kenyatta family brand Brokeside. It’s at this juncture Waititu explored the idea of a takeover of the troubled Githunguri Dairy Farmers Co-operative – Fresha. In his opinion, Fresha was making losses under the current leadership and thus the co-operative needed ‘a receiver manager’, under Waititu as the Patron, in line with the new co-operative rules and regulations.
Our source indicate that, Waititu confided to Stergios that he was in an advanced stage of hounding out the current GDFC management with the help of the area MP Gabriel Kago Wa Lydia and that they were already scouting for suitable replacements. As a matter of fact, he confirmed placing Agriculture CeC former Gatundu North MP Kigo Njenga in charge of this exercise. For information, Kigo Njenga was a former Auditor at Fresha before he became an MP.
Out of the 635 acres remaining, Waititu proposed to give Fresha 15 acres for construction of an animal Feeds Factory as a way of luring farmers to accept Stergios Gkaliamoutsas as the Governors representative in the Board of Management upon retiring off the current board members. This would facilitate a smooth takeover as Del Monte is now completing its Milk processing plant in Thika amid scarcity of milk.
Sadly, the once vibrant Githunguri Dairy Co-operative Society is facing an eminent external aggression from Waititu. Arguably one of the most successful farmers’ cooperative in East and central Africa Fresha’s dire is cast. It’s just a matter of time, and Fresha shall kiss the dust.
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