James Finlays Kenya, a tea production firm has come out to speak on the allegations that its employees face sexual harassment during recruitment and in the line of duty.
This follows an exposé by BBC Africa of how women in tea firms are sexually assaulted.
The company termed the testimonies of the women in the exposé as deeply shocking and upsetting.
Finlays acknowledged that "the documentaries contain footage of two contractors who have worked on Finlays' sites which indicate serious sexual misconduct".
The tea firm said it will not tolerate such behaviour.
"We firmly believe that everyone should feel safe when they come to work at Finlays," the company said.
Finlays acknowledged that though it had put in place measures to ensure such doesn't happen to its employees, "the experiences these women have shared clearly show that we need to go further and do better".
From BBC exposé, Finlays has moved to suspend the suspects accused of sexual harassment.
"We immediately suspended the two individuals featured in the BBC investigation and barred them from all Finlays' sites," the firm said.
Additionally, the firm has terminated its agreement with John Chebochok’s company Sislo Holdings.
"All 300 contractors who were working with us through Sislo have been offered direct employment to ensure their livelihoods are not affected – 98 per cent have accepted," the firm said.
The firm has also suspended John Asava.
Both individuals have been barred from entering James Finlays Kenya.
Finlays said it also reported the BBC allegations against John Chebochok and John Asava to the Kenyan Police.
As the company works with the police to investigate the matter, they have launched independent investigations to fully understand what happened.
"This investigation will cover two key areas – firstly, examining the specific cases of exploitation raised within the programme," the firm said.
The firm will also seek to know areas they can improve their approach to preventing and addressing any sexual violence, abuse, or harassment across the James Finlays Kenya sites.
