Farmers call for Tea Act review to tame cartels

Tea farmers have called for a review of the Tea Act to address the challenges in the sector, which they claim have been engineered by cartels.

Addressing members of the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock during a public hearing, the farmers from the West Rift tea growing region attributed the recent poor payment of bonuses to cartel manipulation at the Mombasa auction.

They told the committee, led by the vice chairman and Konoin MP Brighton Yegon, that the Act aims to improve the management of the 69 tea factories owned by small-holder farmers in 21 counties.

The factory units are run as autonomous companies but managed by the farmers-owned Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).

The committee held its final sitting in Mogogosiek, Kapkoros, Nyansiongo, and Kiamokama tea factories in Bomet, Nyamira, and Kisii counties.

The farmers protested receiving a bonus of Sh20 per kilogramme, compared to Sh62 per kilogramme paid to their counterparts in the East Rift tea growing region.

Joel Koech, a farmer from Kiptenden, attributed the poor payments to cartel manipulation at the Mombasa auction market.

He urged factory directors to advocate more strongly for farmers and ensure they are not conflicted by outside interests.

“We need thorough audits of all our factories. Farmers are suffering. In addition to the low bonus payments, we have not received dividends since 2022. The Tea Board of Kenya must remain neutral and perform its duties impartially,” Koech said.

The farmers also decried lack of scientific methods of tea testing arguing that depending on the current method was backdated and not accurate.

They also called for factory separation saying clamping factories together is among the contributors of the poor pay.

“Apart from the discrepancy in the tea bonus, the factories from the East Rift get paid Sh25 per Kg monthly while we get Sh23. It is unfair yet we all produce quality tea leaves,” Mary Simotwo told the committee.

Director Samson Menjo welcomed the calls for an audit across the factories.

He said there are new directors and audits should be done so as to clear them of any claims on funds misappropriation the farmers might have against them.

On factory separation, Eric Chepkwony, the KTDA vice-chairman, said the farmers had already agreed with the board members and coding was underway.

He asked the farmers to be patient until the next AGM where they will get an update.

MP Yegon sought to assure the farmers that the committee will ensure that all resolutions made to streamline the sector will be implemented.

“It is questionable that the majority of the factories from this region got the same pay of Sh20 except Momul which performed well and received Sh50 per kilo. We also agree that scientific methods of tea quality testing should be used for accuracy purposes,” Yegon said.

During an inspection tour of tea factories in the South Rift region in August, Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Kipronoh said the government will undertake costing for critical KTDA equipment.

Additionally, both KTDA and private tea factories are mandated to meet established quality standards, and private factories must comply with registration requirements, he said.