A 28-year-old young man has offered an American imported Holstein Friesian cow worth Sh200,000 and a pig to President Uhuru Kenyatta for waiving Sh1.2 billion debt owed by coffee farmers across the country.
Joshua Mbute, a veterinary surgeon and farmer in Kiangothe village, Kirinyaga, said the gift was his deep appreciation to the President for saving the family’s two-acre farm from the auctioneer’s hammer for a Sh150,000 loan his father had taken and had accrued to Sh300,000.
Speaking to the press at his home, Mbute said his father had used the family land as collateral to acquire a loan from a local sacco but was unable to repay in time. In March, the government released Sh500 million to settle the debt with the remaining Sh700 million paid off in July.
Mbute, a Business Administration student at Kenya Methodist University, said the threat to auction their land has mounted pressure on his family. But the anxiety was put to rest after the President announced the waiver of debts coffee farmers owe financial institutions.
Akin to the story in the Bible, where only one of the 10 lepers healed returned to thank Jesus, Mbute said he felt it necessary to thank President Uhuru for his kind gesture of “saving” their farm.
The 28-year-old said he has been involved in economic activities to boost the financial standing of his family. Mbute now owns 10 top grade cows and more than 70 pigs, which he rears on one section of the land allocated by his father.
He said he wants to give the President the Holstein Friesian heifer as a token of appreciation on behalf of other coffee farmers. Mbute said he does not know how to reach the President and plans to deliver the gift to the Kirinyaga County Commissioner’s office so that it can be sent to State House.
“My only problem now is how I will reach the President to present him with the gift. I am appealing to President Uhuru, through the media, to accept my token of appreciation for his kind deeds,” said Mbute.
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