Nandi, Kericho governors keen on taking over tea estates

Nandi and Kericho county leaders say they are ready to take over the management of tea estates once multinationals’ 99-year tenure expires. Kericho governor Paul Chepkwony and his Nandi counterpart Cleophas Lagat said that counties were capable of managing the plantations to the benefit of local people.

“Nothing is difficult for the counties. The managers currently employed by multinationals can transfer their expertise and work well under county governments,” said Prof Chepkwony in an interview with the Business Daily.

He said the county was bracing for a takeover of both smallholder and large estates in a bid to diversify and aggressively market tea, whose international prices have remained low for six years. Dr Lagat urged the senate to pass laws that will guarantee smooth transfer of the farms to county governments.

Recently, Prof Chepkwony banned multinational tea companies in the county from selling their land, saying most of it had been acquired through leases and should therefore be returned to the government.

He further told the National Land Commission that local residents should be given priority in buying any land that reverts to the State.

“No land transaction will take place in Kericho without the knowledge of the governor, especially involving land that is under trust as that would be against the law,” he said. The governor was responding to complaints from local leaders that some companies were improperly selling their land, with one firm allegedly planning to sell over 400 acres to foreigners.

Dr Lagat said that Nandi county was preparing to take over thousands of acres of tea plantations as the 99-year leases given to multinationals would not be extended.

Send wrong signals

He said they were putting in place measures to ensure proper management of the plantations to double county revenue collection.

“The county, despite being known to be rich in resources, has most of its tea under multinationals. Once released to us, we will be able to uplift the living standards of more people,” Dr Lagat said. However, the two leaders’ sentiments were in sharp contrast with the government’s stand.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei said on Sunday that terminating the leases would send wrong signals to foreign investors. Mr Koskei said the leases would be renewed to attract more investors and help in job creation.

“Foreign and local companies generate billions of shilling to the economy. The government is encouraging new investors to come to Kenya to create jobs in line with the Jubilee government’s manifesto,” said Mr Koskei.

Further, under the Constitution, the mandate of issuing land leases and title deeds falls under the national government and not counties.