Wamondo's Legacy: Vihiga's Pioneering Coffee Factory

An exclusive, behind-the-scenes interview with those who remember the once groundbreaking plant in Western Kenya

Mr. Wilson Koinange, a retired coffee farmer

Mr. Wilson Koinange never imagined owning a coffee plantation. He is 83 years old now but aging. This was reserved for the white colonial masters under whose brutal regime he grew up. At the time, Africans were subservient to their White counterparts.

"We were not allowed to keep dairy cows or any other exotic cattle breeds. These were owned by White people, and only they could grow cash crops such as tea and coffee," Mr. Koinange tells me.

We are sitting in the pensioner's living room at Makanya Village near Mudavadi Girls' High School, Madzuu, in Vihiga County, Kenya. Listening intently are his wife and two of his children. Initially, they are particularly concerned about his "interviewee credentials," given his age. A few moments into the interview, however, the children quietly leave the room, clearly impressed by their dad's performance. Their mother follows them shortly.