Questions over farmers' funds in ill-fated banks led to KTDA chairman's ouster
What you need to know:
- Mr Kanyago is now set to relinquish his position at the agency after 17 out of 30 directors of tea factories in Nyeri County voted him out.
- He was ousted for not giving a satisfactory answer regarding the farmers’ funds that were deposited to the ill-fated financial institutions.
Questions over Sh4 billion deposited in two banks that were placed under receivership led to the ouster of Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) national chairman Peter Kanyago last week.
Mr Kanyago is now set to relinquish his position at the agency after 17 out of 30 directors of tea factories in Nyeri County voted him out.
This is after he allegedly lacked a satisfactory answer regarding the farmers’ funds that were deposited to the ill-fated financial institutions.
However, his relinquishing of the office depends on a November 11 outcome of a petition that he has filed jointly with the KTDA company secretary Kennedy Omanga over the election of Mr Arthur Mukira as chairman.
The two are questioning Mr Mukira’s O-Level qualifications.
Overhaul entire tea board
Some directors of tea factories across the country want the government to overhaul the entire board due to conflict of interest.
“There is a very serious conflict of interest and Mr Kanyago’s ouster is a vote of no confidence in the entire board,” a director of Ndima Factory, John Mithamo, said on Monday.
He said that the entire KTDA board should be overhauled for allegedly blocking the implementation of a report by a task force appointed by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett.
The director urged the minister to appoint consultants and a committee oversee the implementing the report of the task force to save the industry from collapsing like other sub-sectors.
In Nyeri, directors met Mr Kanyago prior to his ouster where they questioned him over the farmers’ funds deposited in Chase Bank and Imperial Bank.
“The money that KTDA deposited belongs to farmers and we have been under pressure to ask about it,” a director from Iriaini factory, who declined to be named so as not to breach the company’s code of conduct, said.
Meet CBK governor
Mr Kanyago explained that he had been trying to meet Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge over the issue without success.
“I don’t want to discuss that issue now or speculate why they refused to elect me. Let’s wait for the petition,” Mr Kanyago said when contacted.
