The Tea Board of Kenya will be up and running by April.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya said on Thursday formation of the board will depend on the elections expected to be held on March 16.
He said to operationalise the Tea Board of Kenya, the Agriculture ministry has prepared the Tea Board (Elections) Regulations, 2020 under the Tea Act, 2020.
Munya said representatives of sakeholders in the tea value chain will take their places on the board of directors of the Tea Board.
The regulations provide eligibility requirements, election guidelines with application procedures, guidelines for the election process, voting process, power of attorney for corporate institution growers, modification of forms and election observers.
Munya said this is the first move in implementing the Tea Act.
The Tea Act, 2020 came into force December 24 last year when President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Tea Bill.
"We are releasing the first set of the regulations governing the elections of the tea board directors and directors of the factory companies that are managed by KTDA," he said.
The CS said the ministry will swiftly put reforms into effect and give farmers the opportunity to vote for their representatives in the Tea Factory Limited companies and in the Tea Board of Kenya.
(Edited by. V. Graham)
