Murang'a tea farmers slaughter goats, make merry after better returns

Tea farmers in Murang’a county have lauded the government for reforming the sector that has resulted in better returns for them.

The farmers congregated in Mbugiti, Gatanga, where they slaughtered six goats and made merry.

Mbugiti is under Ngere tea factory which paid a mini bonus of Sh10 per kilo last week, one of the highest payment countrywide.

Only three other factories from Embu county paid a similar amount, while the other factories paid between Sh5 and Sh7 per kilo.

The farmers narrated the struggles they went through as they fought for reforms and liberation from the suppression of the previous KTDA leadership.

James Mukuna from Ndaka-ini said the agitation for reforms started in Murang’a county before it spread to other parts of the country.

The reformists, he said, stood firm against an oppressive leadership and made it clear that farmers would no longer sit back and accept exploitation.

A survey done by the Food and Agriculture Organization showed that more than 50 per cent of tea farmers were living below the poverty line in 2018.

In 2019, farmers started pushing for change that led to the formation of tea prices stabilisation task force by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in February 2020.

In 2020, tea farmers from Murang’a and Nyeri planned mass action against the previous KTDA leadership as they demanded accountability.

They accused the former regime of using farmers’ money to file court cases meant to frustrate the reforms to keep farmers from economic emancipation.

KTDA had filed several cases that led to the suspension of several clauses in the tea regulations gazette by the government earlier in the year.

In March 2021, tea farmers elected new directors after the former President issued an executive order directing the Tea Board of Kenya to sanction elections in all KTDA managed factories, a decision that led to an overhaul of KTDA’s leadership.

Mukuna said their efforts were not in vain as they were now enjoying the fruits of their fight.

“Were it not for the reforms, we would still be crying and living in hopelessness,” he said.

Mary Wanjiru from Nduti tea factory said farmers are hopeful that they will get more returns from their cash crop to compensate for the many years they have lived in economic servitude.

Wanjiru said this year started on a high note for them with the payment of the mini bonus and urged factories’ directors and the new KTDA leadership to continue streamlining their operations.

“Annual general meetings would previously only last for 30 minutes. Farmers were not even allowed to ask questions. We are happy that there is a clear road map of where we are going,” she said.

Ngere tea factory vice chairman, who also represents Zone Two on the KTDA board James Githinji, said it was a new dispensation for farmers that they could congregate and celebrate their hard work.

He said his factory has since been able to put in place a cash flow management system that has allowed it to rely less on loans and depend more on its internal resources.

Githinji said the factory produces some of the highest quality tea after holding rigorous sensitisation meetings with farmers, increasing its salability.

“We met with buyers to understand what they want and thereafter, we sat down as management and implemented our findings. We aligned our machines accordingly and a calendar for farmers’ meetings talking to them about the need to produce high quality tea”.

But Chege Kirundi, Zone Three KTDA board member and Kiru tea factory chairperson narrated the tribulations farmers went through as they tried to force reforms.

The factory was embroiled in wrangles since 2016 when Kirundi who was still the chairperson announced that they wanted its management agreement with KTDA reviewed.

“Once the previous agreement expired, KTDA refused to have it reviewed and instead removed the factory’s board by force. It made it impossible for peaceful AGMs to be held. We could not meet as the board and could not meet executive committee members.”

The board split into two, with Stephen Githiga leading the other one and the two at one point held parallel AGMs.

Kirundi said his team filed about 32 suits as they tried to fight for freedom. The factory has since resolved to have the suits withdrawn as what they were fighting for has been achieved.

He explained that they conceived the idea of processing orthodox tea in 2017 and the factory was expanded to accommodate it but that KTDA refused to help the factory procure machines, stalling the project.

“We have seen the benefits of reforms. Then, we had decided to pay farmers Sh25 per kilo for the monthly pay because our accounts showed that was possible but KTDA again made that impossible,” Kirundi said.

“We wanted to do away with the company secretary and had sacked the one we had at Kiru factory but now we are happy any factory can employ its own company secretary.”

He said KTDA board members are working on ensuring a new management agreement is done between the agency and factories and that farmers are allowed to sell tea wherever they want.

KTDA chairperson David Ichoho said the biggest challenge facing the sector was the cartels that entrenched themselves during the previous regime.

Previous leaders, he said, manipulated elections to ensure they remained in office and that they were controlling most aspects of the sector.

“We went to India and realised they had registered companies that were then trading with KTDA but we have removed them from our systems and said we will no longer work with them, and that is why they have been fighting us,” Ichoho said.

“Their companies were the ones being given tenders, upgrading roads and procuring machines for tea factories. We are hoping to establish firm structures that will hold the sector together in future," he said.

The agency has been in talks with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who has agreed to help weed out cartels in the tea value chain.

Ichoho explained that the cartels that start at the factory level have been downscaling the weight of their tea, inflating costs of commodities in factories, awarding themselves tenders and manipulating the price of tea among other things.

KTDA, he said, is focusing on sealing all loopholes used to siphon farmers’ money, give farmers the freedom to choose their preferred leaders and dignify farmers by giving them more returns and understanding that they own the sector.

“The biggest fight we currently have is doing away with the people that had taken the sector hostage and that is why they have been fuelling conflicts as they try to frustrate what we’re trying to do”.

Former directors who were ousted through reforms implemented by former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya have been challenging the current management and accusing them of mismanaging the sector.

The former directors in September last year stormed KTDA’s offices and tea factories in an attempted takeover before they were ejected by security officers.

Consequently, the current directors led by Ichoho asked them to keep off both KTDA offices and tea factories saying they were persona non grata in all KTDA facilities’ and that their ‘political’ moves would be resisted by farmers.