- Police intervened and calm the situation which almost turned ugly.
- They whisked Kones out of the venue as the two groups hurled seats at each other.
Image: FELIX KIPKEMOI
Former Konoin MP Julius Kones MP was on Saturday forced to cut short his speech during a tea farmers’ meeting on the proposed tea regulations at Mogogosiek after two groups sharply differed.
Police intervened and calmed the situation which almost turned ugly. They whisked Kones out of the venue as the two groups hurled seats at each other, bringing the meeting to a premature end.
The chaos erupted moments after Kones took to the stage to address the crowd. The side opposed to Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya’s tea regulations jeered him following claims that he supports the reforms, which they claim are oppressive.
The consultative meeting convened by the National Assembly’s Committee on Delegated Legislation chaired by Tharaka Nithi MP George Murugara was aimed at collecting views from tea farmers on the proposed reforms.
Those who attended were Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot and committee members Ronald Tonui, Robert Mbui, William Cheptumo and Gideon Mulyungi.
The committee is on a countrywide tour.
Kones supports the new regulations and has never shied away from expressing views in public and even on his social media pages.
While most of the tea farmers who attended the meeting supported the regulations, some opposed them saying they were not beneficial to them.
It was claimed each of the directors had ferried committee members from buying centres to the meeting to reject the regulations.
Most of those who spoke said they would not support KTDA reverting to the government.
“No KTDA, no reforms. If there is a legislator who is coming here to take our views and then later be bribed by Munya to repress us, then we are saying no to the regulations. If you want to address our issues go to Parliament. When we have issues we approach our directors at KTDA,” one of the tea farmers said.
Those who backed the proposal had ample time to air their views before trouble started when a group opposed to it emerged and took control of the meeting.
“We fully support the government on this since we know it has good plans for us as tea farmers. We want to tell those managing KTDA and who have been swindling us that their days are now numbered. Enough is enough,” Simeon Buzeki said.
During the meeting which was also attended by directors from various factories in the region, Murugaru who is the chairperson of the committee said all they want was for the farmers to get value for their produce.
Kones expressed his dismay over the incident, claiming people had been ferried to the meeting by directors from areas which do not grow tea.
Edited by Henry Makori