Farmers tell KTDA to withdraw petition against reforms team

Farmers from Murang’a county want KTDA to withdraw a petition it has filed against the implementation of tea reforms.

The tea farmers have said the agency is not acting on their behalf and accused it of attempting to frustrate the process of reforming the sector by the national government. 

Addressing journalists separately on Wednesday, the tea growers said the longer the laws take to be implemented, the longer their suffering.

Farmers said the petition indicates that the Kenya Tea Development Authority is still unwilling to adopt the regulations that they said would benefit them.

On July 10, the High Court in Nairobi issued orders stopping the implementation of a gazette notice published by Trade CS Peter Munya in which he named members of a national steering committee on implementation of tea reforms.

This followed a petition by KTDA claiming some of the persons named as members of the committee had publicly pronounced themselves against the authority.

Githiga farmer Macharia Karungu said farmers are for the regulations as they will save them from exploitation by the agency and increase their returns. 

The regulations have reduced the fee charged by KTDA as management fees from 2.5 per cent of the earnings to 1.5 per cent.

It also wants farmers to share the cost of auctioning tea at the Mombasa auction with buying companies. 

“Such proposals will increase the returns we make and save us from the slavery of poverty. We want the regulations implemented as fast as possible,” he said, adding that KTDA should withdraw the petition if it minds their interests.

Karungu further applauded the proposal to have farmers paid half of their earnings every month while the disbursement of the rest is agreed upon at the factory level.

Samuel Njunu, a farmer from Njunu tea factory in Gatanga subcounty, asked KTDA to pay this year’s bonuses despite the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Njunu said the agency has been announcing the adverse effects of the pandemic on the sector to prepare them for minimal or no payments.

“We know the sector was doing well since the year started last year in July and only a few months were affected by the coronavirus,” he said.

Wambugu Gachunji from Kanyenya-ini tea factory said farmers are on the verge of giving up following the frustrations from the agency.

He said it is disheartening for KTDA to block the formation of the implementation committee, reiterating that the decision is not meant to empower farmers.

“KTDA is not bigger than the government and should not be allowed to interfere with the reforms. The committee should stay firm and continue with its work,” Wambugu said.

Bedan Muigai from Njunu factory wondered why tea factories pay management fees to KTDA yet all factory costs are borne by farmers.

Muigai said the agency released dividends to farmers from its affiliate companies only because the government started overhauling the sector.

“We have now become slaves to banks yet KTDA retains our money for one year and uses it to give us loans through its affiliate companies,” he said, adding that the agency is not genuine in the management of the small scale tea sector.

He said it is time for KTDA to step messing with farmers’ income and that the tea regulations are the only way out.

Edited by R.Wamochie