Kakuzi, an agricultural farm with huge tracts of land in Murang'a and Nandi counties, has fired back after a stinging article published in the United Kingdom linking it to human rights abuses.
The Sunday Times article accused Kakuzi of extreme violence against the local community, saying its guards not only battered a 28-year-old man to death for allegedly stealing avocados but also raped 10 women.
But in a rejoinder published in a press statement in Kenyan dailies, Kakuzi accuses a British law firm, Leigh Day, of orchestrating a smear campaign after failing to beat it in a court of law.
"The allegations made in the Sunday Times article are against Kakuzi employees committing criminal acts against Kenyan citizens. However, the law firm Leigh Day has made it clear in their communications to Kakuzi that the Kenyan legal system is incapable of dealing with these cases. In their view, the allegations can only be heard in a British court," said Kakuzi in their statement.
Kakuzi, which deals in avocados, livestock, blueberries, and tea, said that it had already settled with the family of the deceased 28-year-old according to the Kenyan law and that investigations are still ongoing.
It accused the British law firm of attempting to impose a sort of neo-colonialism by implying that the Kenyan legal system is incapable of dealing with human rights abuse claims.
Further, Kakuzi said the alleged 79 claims were made anonymously hence its hands have remained tied as it does not know to whom it is responding.
"...As far as we know, few of these accusations have ever been reported to Kakuzi or the Kenyan authorities. That the claims having been made anonymously has hindered any investigation to get justice for those who seek it," the firm said.
