The Ministry of Agriculture is this week developing guidelines for the elections of directors of the Tea Board of Kenya and those of factories under the Kenya Tea Development Agency.
The Agriculture and Food Authority said a team is meeting in Naivasha to formulate provisions for eligibility, voter requirement, election process and resolution of elections disputes.
“Once the guidelines are out, the ministry will have a calendar for the elections that will take place in March. We will have a draft of the rules by next week,” AFA said.
On January 7, Agriculture CS Peter Munya released tea elections regulations under the new Tea Act 2020 and called for public scrutiny and opinions before the March polls.
Munya said the enactment of the Tea Act, 2020 was a culmination of a long-drawn process towards reforms to entrench good governance and efficiency in the tea value chain.
“Further, the reforms are geared towards a sustainable and profitable tea sector, particularly for the primary stakeholders who are the farmers,” he said.
The Tea Act, 2020 came into force on December 24 last year when the Tea Bill, 2018, was assented to by the President.
Munya said following enactment, the Ministry has now embarked on the development of the regulations to operationalise the Tea Act.
Under the regulations, the number of board of directors in the tea factories reduced to five from the initial seven. Consequently, some zones may be merged with others.
“Every tea factory to ensure that all registered shareholders have the right to vote and the opportunity to participate in the elections,” Munya said.
No more than two-thirds of the board members should be of the same gender. Their tenure shall be for a maximum period of two terms of three years each.
(edited by o. owino)
