At least one suspect was shot and killed in a confrontation between police and suspected thieves at the Del Monte farm in Murang’a County.

The mob also set on blaze a security van that was being used for patrols on the farm, police said.

A team of police officers accompanying private security guards manning the expansive farm said they on August 12 encountered a mob of about 150 who were targeting pineapples therein.

The group attacked the security team with stones, slashers and machetes, police said. This prompted one police officer in the team to try to jump out the vehicle for protection.

According to police, in the process one of the officers slipped and fell on the ground in the farm as the vehicle they were using came under attack.
The mob charged towards him and tried to attack him with machetes and slashers, prompting his colleagues to shoot to the air as they rescued him.
The rowdy thieves retreated and charged before they cornered the G4S vehicle, which they set on fire.

They then, according to police targeted the police prompting the team to shoot in defence. The officers asked for reinforcement from Ngati police station which arrived in time prompting the larger group to escape.

It was then that one Harison Kibandi Marubu, 34 was fatally injured, police said. Police said he was hit as he and the other accomplices set the van on fire.

The issue was reported and senior police officers visited the scene ordering deployment of more personnel to the farm.

The body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and other investigations. This is the latest drama at the farm amid efforts to contain cases of stealing of pineapples.

The company says dozens of pineapples are stolen from the farm annually despite efforts being made to contain the trend.

Hundreds of pineapples have been recovered and dozens of suspects arrested over the trend in the past years. Authorities launched “Operation Linda Mananasi” on the farm to deter the invading thieves.

Police have been leading the operation with local team within Ithanga/Kakuzi Sub-county with a view of arresting and preventing agricultural produces from being stolen.
This followed complaints from the farm management there is rampant stealing of the products from the expansive farm.
More than ten cars, dozens of motorcycles and tuktuk that were being used in the theft have in the past year been recovered in the operation.

Past operations by the farm led to clashes between their security and suspected thieves which turned fatal.
The vast plantation is estimated to cover at least 40 sq kilometers of the area of Murang’a.

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 organized 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.
In 2019, five guards at the farm were  charged with murdering a man who strayed in a pineapple plantation.
The murder occurred on the night of April 20 and April 21, 2019 in Del Monte farm within Gatanga sub-county.
Police said Bernard Murigi was assaulted by the five to his death.