Nairobi, Aug. 24 -- A government-led verification of claims submitted by coffee cooperatives, financial institutions and other stakeholders reduced the reported sector debt from Sh11 billion to Sh6.8 billion, Commissioner for Co-operatives Development, David Obonyo, has said.

Mr Obonyo added that the difference of Sh4.2 billion was not necessarily an indication of fraudulent claims, but resulted from the government process of validating debts to establish whether they were supported by records and confirmed by the institutions involved.

"The total claims that were submitted to the commission were about Sh11 billion. However, the government usually conducts verification before settlement. We have to ascertain if they are genuine and vali...