'No foul play on Del Monte's part': Multinational responds to suspected killings on Kenyan pineapple farm

28 December 2023 - 07:11 By Hereward Holland
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Kenyan police are investigating the suspected murder of four men on a Del Monte pineapple farm near Nairobi. Stock photo.
Kenyan police are investigating the suspected murder of four men on a Del Monte pineapple farm near Nairobi. Stock photo.
Image: maglara/123RF

Multinational food company Del Monte says its local unit is co-operating with Kenyan authorities and alleges there is rampant organised crime and pineapple theft in the region.

This after Kenyan police said on Wednesday they were investigating suspected killings of four men on a Del Monte pineapple farm near Nairobi, months after a media report said security guards on the same farm had killed and assaulted trespassing villagers.

“Our security footage from when the men attempted to steal pineapple shows no foul play on Del Monte's part and instead shows the thieves running away towards the river ... as they tried to run away from security guards,” it said.

Earlier this year a joint investigation by Britain's Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Guardian newspaper found evidence that they said showed security guards working for Del Monte had killed and brutally assaulted villagers suspected of trespassing on the Kenyan pineapple farm.

Del Monte said at the time it had initiated investigations, supported by an independent review by a specialist human rights consultancy.

Reuters


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