Police are investigating the death of four men after they were allegedly beaten up by guards at the Del Monte pineapple farm in Murang’a County.
This brings the controversy surrounding the farm’s security guards into the limelight.
The farm that supplies most British supermarkets have been accused of brutally assaulting and killing people suspected of trespassing on its land.
The bodies were found separately- two on Sunday and two on Monday floating on Thika River.
They drowned as they escaped from the hands of the guards at the farm who had allegedly earlier on beaten them up.
The four had been missing for days and their families were searching for them.
The four men had left their respective homes on December 18 to find jobs at a quarry adjoining a vast Del Monte pineapple farm, their families said.
They later sneaked into one of the plantations, where they started harvesting the produce, oblivious to the imminent tragedy.
Survivors who escaped said the guards caught up with the victims and beat them up before letting them to escape when they drowned.
Their bodies were found floating on River Thika.
Other families claimed their kin were brutally clobbered by the guards who, after confirming they had died, proceeded to throw the bodies into the foregoing river. Divers strived to retrieve the bodies, which had visible bruises suggesting they had been beaten up prior to the death.
Their families faulted the guards for killing the suspects when they would have arrested them and presented them to justice.
Police said they are investigating the incident. The farm too said they are investigating the matter.
Police said a planned postmortem on the bodies will tell more on what caused the deaths.
This will guide the probe to another level, police said.
In July, 2023, two minors were injured by Del Monte guards after being accused of stealing pineapples from the company’s plantation.
According to sources, the boys were run over by the guards who were aboard their van.
The 17-year-olds were on a motorbike and were headed home to Kihiu Mwiri village from fetching fodder.
The guards on duty spotted and mistook them for pineapple thieves before starting to charge towards them.
Their efforts to flee using the motorbike proved futile as the guards aboard their vehicle caught up with them.
The vast plantation which is estimated to cover at least 40 sq km, the area of Muranga.
The farm has public roads going through it and directly employs 237 security guards.
Guards on the farm are typically armed with
rungus.
Their use in security is legal and common in Kenya because of the risk of violent theft, including from young men who regularly go in organised groups to steal pineapples, but the claims suggest the guards’ use of violence has been excessive.
The scale of theft has resulted in clashes with guards, who have themselves been injured, including one reportedly losing an eye after a stone was thrown by a thief.
The claims of violence by Del Monte security guards over a number of years raise serious questions about the company’s processes and due diligence at the farm.
The farm is the single largest exporter of Kenyan produce to the world, including the supply of tinned and fresh pineapple to supermarkets in the UK and elsewhere. Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Ocado and Morrisons are among the supermarkets that stock its fruit.
In 2019, five guards at the farm
Were charged with murdering a man who strayed in a pineapple plantation.
Paul Ndung’u, Josphat Ng’ang’a, Maranga Joel, Moses Ebongon Lokadeli and George Musyimi denied the charge before Murang’a High Court Judge Kanyi Kimondo.
The murder occurred on the night of April 20 and April 21, 2019 in Delmonte farm within Gatanga sub-county.
Police said Bernard Murigi was assaulted by the five to his death.
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