A section of Del Monte Plantation in Murang'a County in this picture taken on August 13, 2025. Inset: Stephen Marubu (left) and Michael Murigi who are alleged to have been killed by the farm's security team.
A National Police Service security arrangement at the American-owned Del Monte pineapple plantation in Murang'a County is now facing accusations of operating as an extrajudicial killer squad, having claimed two lives within five days.
The company has long struggled with conflicts involving local gangs that steal pineapples from its plantation to sell in nearby towns. However, the situation appears to have worsened following reports of excessive police force.
The government security operation, announced in December last year by then-County Police Commander Kainga Mathiu, was implemented after the company's internal and private security guards failed to protect the plantation effectively.
A section of Del Monte Plantation in Murang'a County in this picture taken on August 13, 2025.
"We are dealing with a highly volatile situation where organized gangs armed with crude weapons raid the plantation ready for combat. The company loses an estimated Sh80 to Sh100 million annually to these activities, with casualties occurring on both sides," Mr Mathiu said.
Dubbed Operation Linda Mananasi (OLM), the security measure was seen as Del Monte's last hope after the company warned the government it might shut down operations due to persistent criminal activity and market challenges.
Two recent incidents have brought the operation under scrutiny:
On August 8, 2025, 31-year-old Michael Murigi died after security officers allegedly ran him over by a patrol vehicle.
Michael Murigi, 31, was allegedly run over by a Del Monte security patrol vehicle on August 8, 2025.
On Tuesday, 34-year-old Stephen Marubu was shot through the heart by security personnel.
"My son was simply walking home through a plantation path when he was shot dead," Marubu's father, Stephen Kibandi said.
Ran over by patrol vehicle
A police report vaguely describes "a confrontation between youths and security officers leading to firearm use and one fatality," but doesn't clarify whether Marubu was part of any gang or confirm the shooter's identity.
Marubu's widow Caroline Wanjiku maintains her husband was innocent.
"He was coming from buying medicine for our two-year-old. He was a law-abiding citizen," she said.
Stephen Marubu, 34, who was allegedly shot dead by police guarding Del Monte Plantation in Murang'a County on August 12, 2025.
In the second incident, the police report states Murigi was riding as a motorcycle passenger when a Del Monte patrol vehicle struck them from behind, throwing him into the road where he was crushed to death.
The rider, Brian Kuria Muthoni, survived with minor injuries.
"The vehicle had two armed officers and a private guard driving. They laughed as they sped away, shouting 'pineapple thieves should die.' We were not thieves - just returning from Makongeni market. If they were targeting thieves, they got the wrong people,” Mr Kuria told the Daily Nation.
Outraged residents burned another Del Monte patrol vehicle and threatened to storm company offices in retaliation.
These deaths followed another disturbing incident where four bodies with assault injuries were pulled from River Chania, allegedly after altercations with Del Monte guards.
Ithanga/Kakuzi police boss Hussein Bashir acknowledged the loss of life.
"I appeal for peace and patience. As a parent, I share your pain. Now we must investigate and establish culpability," Mr Bashir said.
Mr Bashir's limited authority reflects the operation's unusual structure where officers are rotated randomly from various county stations under the County Commander's office to prevent collusion with thieves.
But poverty, coupled with the plantation’s vast unfenced pineapple fields—some growing along public footpaths—has fueled commercial-scale theft. The dispute is further complicated by human rights groups who argue the land is ancestral property, questioning how a foreign firm can own over 30,000 acres in an area where the average family farm is less than half an acre.
Del Monte counters that it makes a significant contribution to the local and national economy. In 2023, then Managing Director Stergios Gkaliamoutsas said the company generates Sh10 billion annually in foreign exchange, pays Sh2.7 billion in salaries, spends Sh4 billion locally on supplies and remits Sh1.4 billion in statutory deductions.
Pineapple fruit at Del Monte Plantation in Murang'a County in this picture taken on August 13, 2025.
Economic interests, coupled with close Kenya–US relations, prompted the Murang’a County Security Committee to classify the plantation as a critical installation requiring state protection.
In a bid to address human rights concerns, Del Monte signed a pact with G4S on March 5, 2024, to professionalise its security operations, sacking 250 in-house guards in favour of G4S staff.
However, a year later and under the new County Police Commander Benjamin Kimwele, residents say brutality persists.
“The Del Monte issue is a complex crisis with international ramifications. Kenya is a rule-of-law country and we must protect lives and property while fostering an environment for both local and international investors,” Mr Kimwele said at a recent security meeting.
“We are committed to addressing the effects of coordinated criminal operations targeting our fields in alignment with human rights provisions,” Public Relations Officer Ms Muthoni Wachira said.
In 2023, UK supermarket chain Tesco suspended procurement of Del Monte products over alleged systemic human rights abuses, following legal action by UK firm Leigh Day on behalf of victims.
Human rights activists are now demanding that all security operations at the plantation—whether run by government or private contractors—fully respect the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
“The rule of law is supreme. You cannot run over suspects with vehicles or shoot them dead. We don’t condone theft, but stealing pineapples is not a capital offence,” said Mr Swaleh Githinji of Ndura Resource Centre.
Del Monte began operating in Kenya in 1965 after acquiring Kenya Canners, which had been in business since 1948.
