The Kenyan national human rights commission has launched an investigation into alleged killings and assaults by security guards at a Del Monte pineapple farm in Thika, north of Nairobi. This follows a report alleging that guards had brutally beaten local villagers who had trespassed on the farm while searching for food.
On Wednesday, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), in collaboration with the Guardian, published a report on an investigation based on eyewitness accounts of multiple abuses. It claims that guards who worked on the food giant’s plantation were linked to 146 alleged incidents involving 134 locals, over a decade. It also alleges that five deaths, five cases of rape and several serious injuries have occurred since 2019.
Speaking to RT on Monday, Kenyan journalist Francis Wairura said that family members of the dead and injured will continue to put pressure on the government and demand justice. They believe that picking fruit and infiltrating the company’s territory should not cost lives, he explained.
Del Monte Kenya Limited is a Kenyan company involved in the production, cultivation and canning of different types of fruits, especially pineapples. It owns a 40-square-kilometer plantation near the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, employing 237 security guards. Much of Del Monte's produce is shipped overseas, especially to UK supermarkets, including Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado, Sainsbury’s and others.