Nandi county government has instituted a task force to review the operations of national tea companies in the region.
Governor Stephen Sang unveiled the nine-member task force.
They will also look into emerging challenges facing the sub-sector.
The task force will be chaired by former Co-operatives minister John Cheruiyot.
Other members are Anglican priest Elijah Yego, Wilson Lelmengit, Ruth Choge, Steve Rotich and Nathan Tororei.
Others are Nandi Lands executive Philemon Bureti, Benard Kiplimo Lagat (agriculture), and Alfred Lagat (finance).
A leading Nandi historian Godfrey Sang, lawyers Kibet Gim Awi and Maureen Chepng’etich were appointed by Sang as joint secretaries for the secretariat.
Sang unveiled the task force on Friday.
The socio-economic impact of the Mechanisation of green leaves plucking will also be addressed by the task force.
Sang said the team would address the impact of the machines adding that the collective bargaining agreements were not sustainable and which might have forced the multinationals to resort to mechanisation.
He said the devastating impacts of the firms’ actions were overwhelming and went beyond the boundaries of Nandi.
The sub-sector played a key role in national integration hence the need to come to a common ground beneficial to all.
The task force would also look into the status of all land leases including the acreage held by multi-nationals in Nandi.
In 2018, the National Land Commission allowed the Nandi county government to carry out an aerial survey of the plantations to establish the actual sizes.
It was also allowed to review upwards of the yearly land rates paid to the government by the tea holders.
Currently, the firms pay Sh100 per acre under tea per year against a current market rate of Sh10,000 per year.
The county government is also seeking to have control of tea cess deducted from every kilogram of tea processed within the firms.
The county wants a legal framework to be formulated to manage the kitty to be used to improve rural access roads in the tea-growing areas.
