Tea buyers want director John Chebochok to resign

John Chebochok was recently elected as the director of Toror Tea Factory at the just-concluded KTDA elections. [File, Standard]

International tea buyers have compelled the board of management of a Kericho tea factory to ask John Chebochok, implicated in a sex-for-work scandal, to step down as a director.

Chebochok was recently elected as the director of Toror Tea Factory at the just-concluded Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) elections.

He was implicated in the sex scandal expose that was aired in a BBC documentary dubbed "The True Cost of Our Tea" last year when he was working as a contractor at the James Finlays Tea Kenya company.

After a lengthy closed-door meeting at the factory on Thursday, board chairman Japheth Chepkwony stated that Chebochok has not yet been formally inaugurated as a director.

“The authority to appoint directors rests solely with the shareholders, who will exercise this right on Thursday, July 18, 2024. John Chebochok has been adversely mentioned, and we, therefore, ask him to humbly make the right decision and do the honourable thing and resign for the sake of Toror Tea Factory and tea farmers,” said Chepkwony.

On Wednesday, Lipton Tea Chief Supply Chain Officer Bruno Laine in a letter to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, highlighted that Lipton Teas and Infusions had been the largest tea buyer from Ainamoi Zone and had ceased buying tea from Tegat and Toror Tea factories following Chebochok’s election.

“We have stopped buying tea from Tegat/Toror tea factories until appropriate measures are taken. We trust that the government is equally committed to the well being of its citizens and integrity of its key industries,” the letter reads in part.

Chepkwony assured tea buyers that despite the controversy surrounding Chebochok's election, tea processing at the factory continues to meet the required standards.

James Finlay, KTDA and online petitioners are some of the other groups that have expressed misgivings over Chebochok’s election.