Tea workers oppose county proposal to take over farms

What you need to know:

  • “We want the issue of expired leases handled by the national government. Plans to establish a corporation under which tea companies would operate will make workers lose their jobs since county governments don’t have the capacity to handle the thousands of workers,” Mr Omasire said.
  • The leaders said their people suffered when their land was taken by British colonialists.

Controversy over employment is brewing in multinational tea companies as staff say they are not ready to work under the new county management.

The workers were reacting to an announcement on Saturday by Governor Cleophas Lagat who said his administration would not renew leases of multinational tea companies that had expired.

Dr Lagat said the plantations would be placed under the management of the county government.

The most affected multinationals are Williamson Tea and Eastern Produce, which own large plantations and several tea factories.
Senator Stephen Sang said a state corporation would be formed to manage the plantations.

But yesterday, the workers said the new management system would lead to massive job losses.

Subsequently, Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union asked President Kenyatta to intervene.

The union’s Organising Secretary, Henry Omasire, said the tea industry nationally employs more than 350,000 people who have over 1.5 million dependants.

EXPIRED LEASES

Mr Omasire, who was accompanied by the union’s county secretary Eliakim Ochieng and western Kenya region secretary Joshua Oyuga, spoke on Sunday.

“We want the issue of expired leases handled by the national government. Plans to establish a corporation under which tea companies would operate will make workers lose their jobs since county governments don’t have the capacity to handle the thousands of workers,” Mr Omasire said.

However, Senator Sang told the employees that their jobs would be safe. He and former assistant minister Joseph Misoi said the law provided that land, whose leases expire, be given to county governments.

The leaders said their people suffered when their land was taken by British colonialists.

Initially, the leases were to run for 999 years but that was reduced to 99 years when the Constitution was promulgated in August 2010.
Last week, Governor Lagat said devolved governments had the mandate to handle the leases.

“County governments will not allow the national government to direct which leases should be renewed. Formation of the 47 land management boards allowed county governments to handle the leases,” Governor Lagat said.