Bereaved families and politicians have raised alarm about continued killings on Del Monte's pineapple farm in Kenya despite the company hiring G4S to replace its in-house security team after previous deaths were exposed by the Guardian. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

Del Monte appointed G4S to guard the farm, which is estimated to cover at least 40 sq km, the area of a small city, after the Guardian detailed allegations of brutal assaults and killings of people suspected of trespassing on its land. Kenyan police have been working with G4S to guard the site.

Three men, including two brothers, were killed in separate incidents over the past year allegedly involving G4S guards.

Stephen Marubu Kibandi, 34, was shot in the chest from close range by a police officer working alongside G4S guards last August after they claimed to have been attacked. The victim put his hands up in surrender before being shot, according to a witness.

His brother, 27-year-old Haron Kame Kibandi, died in April this year after allegedly being struck on the head by stones thrown by G4S guards and falling from a motorbike. A third man, 31-year-old Michael Muiruri, was killed after being knocked off a motorbike by a G4S pickup truck.

In 2023, the Guardian revealed allegations about the killing of four men at the farm over a decade. Security at the farm was reviewed as part of a human rights impact assessment, which found that the farm was causing human rights harms across several areas. In March 2024, Del Monte Kenya outsourced all of the security at the farm to a team of 270 G4S guards.

Announcing the deal, Wayne Cooke, the then acting managing director of Del Monte Kenya, said: "The safety and security of each individual within our company and the surrounding community are our top priority." Del Monte Kenya appointed a new manager to address its "human rights challenges".

This year, the Kenyan police extended their work with G4S to guard the site, setting up a "critical infrastructure protection unit" to help improve security at the farm.

Campaigners fear there will be more deaths on Del Monte's pineapple farm because the involvement of police makes the use of lethal force more difficult to prosecute. G4S denies wrongdoing.

The farm in Murang'a county is the largest exporter of Kenyan produce, including to several UK supermarkets, and is worth more than $100m a year. The average monthly salary in the county is about £280 ($380) and pineapple theft has been a problem for decades.

A Kenyan senator has called for an independent investigation into the violence at the farm.

Stephen Marubu Kibandi died instantly when he was shot in the chest on 12 August 2025. A witness said Kibandi was among several men who were being chased by police and G4S guards on the Del Monte farm after resisting arrest. They said he was shot by a police officer while raising his hands in surrender. G4S says the police and guards were being attacked by men wielding machetes who also set fire to a G4S vehicle.

A copy of his postmortem findings, seen by the Guardian, said Kibandi died from "severe haemorrhage due to perforating chest injury due to single gunshot". His death is being investigated by the police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA).

G4S says it has shared footage with the IPOA showing police and its officers being attacked by men throwing stones and wielding machetes before the fatal shot was fired by a police officer. The company declined to share the footage with the Guardian.

Stephen Nderitu, who witnessed the incident, said his friend had been approaching the police to argue they were doing nothing wrong. He told the Guardian: "There were two policemen and two G4S guards about 50 metres from where we were when I saw one of them point a gun at us and I jumped into the nearby thickets. Marubu held up both his hands and I heard a gunshot and saw him go down."

The incident has been widely condemned and later prompted a protest in which a G4S van was burned. The local MP, Mary Wamaua Waithira, said: "Why shoot someone who has surrendered? He had lifted his hands up. We want the commanding officer for Ngati police station removed."

Stephen's brother, Haron, died on 20 April this year from brain injuries, days after being struck on the head by stones. Before his death, he claimed the stones had been thrown by G4S guards. Haron told medics this had caused him to fall from a moving motorbike being ridden by a friend. He was allegedly beaten, according to an account he gave to medics.

Simon Mburu, the manager of a health clinic to which Haron was taken, said: "He told me that he was hit by a stone by a G4S guard and when he fell down the person riding the bike continued." When Haron was transferred to a hospital, he gave the same account. He died four days later. Scans revealed he had a "traumatic head injury" including an epidural haematoma, a lethal bleed between the skull and the brain.

Kennedy Kiarie, 28, was riding the motorbike when, he claims, stones hit Haron at field 17 inside Del Monte's farm. He admits they were on the farm.