Tea farmers want CS to release 2007 sector report

Small-scale tea farmers are asking the government to release findings of a Tea Task Force constituted in 2007 to investigate the tea industry.

Addressing a press conference in Chuka town, Tharaka-Nithi County, the Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Small Scale Tea organization (KUSSTO) George Kinyua said over the years successive ministers of agriculture had declined to make public and implement the recommendations thereby depriving farmers.

He said unless the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Mwangi Kiunjuri releases the report, KUSSTO will call for a national wide tea-picking boycott starting on December 1, 2018.

Mr Kinyua indicated that the task force that was chaired by Dr Richard Leakey pointed out individuals who were responsible for theft and mismanagement of tea farmers’ money and made recommendations that the government could take to ease farmers suffering.

The KUSSTO official pointed out that earlier in 2015, after a serious outcry by tea farmers, the government set up a similar task force to investigate the Kenya Tea Development Agency KTDA and other organisations involved in the tea industry.

He claimed that the then Agriculture secretary, Willy Bett in collusion with the KTDA sat on the task force’s report and refused to release it.

Apart from release of the taskforce report, KUSSTO has also recommended that the government revert the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA), remove the entire agency’s officials from sitting at the tea factory’s board meetings and to let tea companies to operate independently.

Further, he asked government to reduce the number of factory directors from six to three and remove the gender director arguing that they do not represent any interest at the factories.

KUSSTO has also asked the Auditor General to audit KTDA and the factories in order to arrest and prosecute individuals who steal from farmers.