Bomet tea farmers call for dissolution of KTDA
A farmer picking tea. Small-scale tea farmers in Bomet County have called for the dissolution of the Kenya Tea Development Agency, claiming it was colluding with factories to deny them their rightful earnings from tea sales at the Mombasa auction. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- The farmers said that they no longer had trust in the agency’s management.
- They said that KTDA and tea factories were colluding to deny small scale farmers their rightful earnings from tea sales at the Mombasa auction.
- They urged the government not to sit back and watch as prices were being fixed to rates which did not favour the farmers.
Small-scale tea farmers in Bomet County have demanded the disbandment of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), accusing it of colluding with factories to fleece them.
The farmers said they no longer had trust in the agency’s management and it was time a new body was established to take care of the already impoverished farmers.
In a statement to the press in Bomet town on Wednesday, the farmers said that KTDA and tea factories were colluding to deny small-scale farmers their rightful earnings from tea sales at the Mombasa auction.
NO VALID EXPLANATION
The tea farmers said they did not understand why the agency’s management claimed it was unable to pay them their interim bonus without valid explanations.
One farmer, Weldon Mutai, dared the agency to come out in the open and tell them where the sales accruing from the deliveries went.
“We are also asking that bonus payment should be reviewed so that farmers can be compensated for missing the interim payments,” Mr Mutai said.
Mr Mutai at the same time said the KTDA management was planning to rebrand the agency as a holding company and take away 51 per cent as its shares so as to continue “milking” the poor and helpless growers.
AMEND TEA ACT
There was need, he said, for the government to put pressure on Parliament to amend the Tea Act so as to free the farmers from the heavy taxes that were being levied on them by the agency. That, he said, would allow the farmers to enjoy the fruits of their agricultural activities.
“As a result of the continued exploitation by the agency, we have nothing to show that we own tea because we are dressed in tatters and unable to put food on the table for our families,” Mr Mutai stated.
Mr Mutai, who spoke on behalf of more than 300 tea growers, regretted that if the trend continued without any action, many farmers would be condemned to poverty by people behind the alleged syndicate.
The farmer urged the government not to sit back and watch as prices were being fixed to rates that did not favour the farmers.
