Protect Del Monte from Looming Ruin, State Urged

The government has been requested to protect Del Monte Food Company from extinction due to diminishing farmland.

Trade unions, members of the Federation of Kenya Employers, and company management have expressed fear that the firm’s land may be lost due to the recent ceding of large areas to the counties of Murang’a and Kiambu.

According to the company’s outgoing managing director, Stergios Gkaliamoutsas, the global fruit juice processor has already given 1,400 acres to Murang’a and 700 acres to Kiambu counties.

However, Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) board member Boniface Kavuvi stated that thousands of people employed directly or indirectly by Del Monte will be laid off due to the country’s unemployment situation.

He expressed the remarks yesterday at the signing of collective bargaining agreements by Del Monte Ltd, the Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers (KUCFAW), and the Kenya Plantation and Allied Workers Union (KPAWU).

The largest exporter of Kenyan products, which ships 5,000 containers a year via the Mombasa port, employs 6,500 people directly and another 28,000 indirectly.

“We are urging the government to safeguard the interest of the thousands of workers employed here and who are at the verge of being laid off due to the shrinking land of Delmonte that has continued to affect their production,” Kavuvi said. Thomas Kipkemboi, the Deputy Secretary General KPAWU said the country stands to lose heavily should Del Monte go under.