Coffee agency mulls suing NCE in trading rights row

The agency in a letter to the NCE said it has given the auction one week to issue it with a brokers’ code and lot ranges, failure to which it will move to court.

The NCE last week refused to admit the five CMA licensees to the trading floor, saying it is awaiting an advisory from the Ministry of Agriculture—which is opposed to having the CMA oversee the auction.

The other licensees are Meru County Coffee Marketing Agency Ltd, Kipkelion Brokerage Company Ltd, Murang’a County Coffee Dealers Company and Mt Elgon Coffee Marketing Agency Ltd.

“We shall institute a legal suit against the NCE as a body corporate and yourself personally as the CEO of the Exchange,” said Elizabeth Nzilani, the CEO of the United Eastern Kenya in the letter dated August 23 and addressed to her NCE counterpart Daniel Mbithi.

“Because you have issued us with a clearance and we have been duly licensed by CMA to sell our coffee at the NCE, we demand from you the brokers’ code and lot ranges within a week.” Ms Nzilani said that any losses incurred by the coffee farmers due to delays in accessing the market such as loss of income due to a drop in coffee prices during this period will be included in the case.

“We are an entity owned by 100,000 farmers in Machakos and Makueni Counties and these farmers wholly rely on coffee as their source of livelihood,” she said.

In a separate letter to Mr Mbithi, the CMA directed that the five millers be admitted at the auction with the issuance of lots range and brokers code, which is mandatory before one is allowed to trade.