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Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua yesterday hit out at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), warning that the government will not sit back and watch as its directors squander farmers earnings.
Speaking at a meeting with the new KTDA directors in Mombasa, the DP said the agency’s loss-making subsidiaries must be closed down so that it can concentrate on selling tea and lowering production costs.
He said the government will intervene in the KTDA affairs to protect 800,000 farmers.
"Some say that the government should not meddle with KTDA affairs as it is a private entity. But the 800,000 farmers are Kenyans," said Gachagua
Gachagua said the outgoing directors spend Sh44 million between January and July this year on travel.
"Travel expenditure from January to June stands at sh44 million on foreign travel. Let us reduce expenses so farmers can get their money to stop uprooting the tea,” said Gachagua.
The DP said that all KTDA subsidiaries were a wastage and directed the agency to focus on its main business of selling tea and putting money in the pockets of tea farmers.
"What is KTDA doing in real estate? We will look into it and have all KTDA loss-making subsidiaries close down because it is the farmers who take the loss," said Gachagua.
The DP said the KTDA legal department should be done away with and services outsourced.
"KTDA outsources legal services from lawyers charging exorbitant fees yet it has lawyers paid monthly but cannot argue cases. We either scrap the legal department in KTDA and outsource," said Gachagua.
The DP told the directors to stop fighting and work together for farmers and ensure quality tea gets to the market and the farmers enjoy better bonuses.
He the recent withdrawal of court cases had settled challenges that faced KTDA and led to the election of new directors under the chairmanship of Enos Njeru.
Muranga MP Geoffrey Kagondu and four other directors had challenged the re-election of Njeru as KTDA chair accusing the government of interfering with the elections and affairs of the the authority.
He said that even the directors fighting on the board are because of money and self-interest.
"There is no need for infighting. Let us embrace democracy and work for farmers," said Gachagua.
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