Fight breaks out at tea farmers’ AGM in Murang’a County

An annual general meeting (AGM) at Makomboki Tea Factory in Murang’a County has ended in disarray after the shareholders engaged in a fist fight over who would chair the meeting.

There were two factions who were at loggerheads after a court order barring all the directors from chairing the meeting was served.

Even after the court order directed that the meeting be chaired by the regional director, Mr Willis Odhiambo, one of the camps opposed the decision on grounds that he was not allowed to chair the meeting by the company’s by-laws.

PHYSICAL FIGHT

Police officers had to intervene to separate the warring camps who had started engaging in physical fight bringing the meeting to a standstill.

The fight broke when a shareholder stood up and alleged that some of the participants in the meeting advocating for the meeting to continue were not genuine shareholders, claiming that they were goons for hire who wanted to disrupt the meeting.

Mr James Gakuya, a shareholder, said the meeting ought to have been called off since they had not been served with the court order.

“As shareholders we should have been served with the court order and also included in the court proceedings since, according to the articles of association, with have the final say. However, the management and the chairperson have been excluding from the court process,” Mr Gakuya said, insisting that the meeting should be postponed.

He accused the management of hiring drunkards to participate in the meeting so as to endorse their preferred agenda.

However, Mr Gakuya’s allegations were not taken kindly by the agitated rival camp who started attacking him, prompting Mr Odhiambo to end the meeting prematurely.

Police had a hard time trying to restore normalcy in the disorderly meeting.

SPECIAL MEETING

The tea farmers have demanded for a special general meeting to iron out challenges facing the company and discuss the agendas that would have been discussed during the AGM.

However, Mr Odhiambo said they will only convene again during the 2018 AGM.

Speaking to Nation, Mr Odhiambo dismissed claims that he was not allowed by the by-laws to chair the meeting, maintaining that he is enlisted as the director appointed by the board to represent the interests of KTDA.

“The meeting was good since the fight did not prevent us from discussing the agenda,” he said.

The company has been experiencing leadership wrangles since June 2016 after the embattled chairman, Mr Erastus Gakuya, was voted out but moved to court challenging the election of Mr John Mwangi.

On September 19, the courts issued an order restraining Mr Gakuya, his deputy Peter Mbogo and his opponent John Kamau who had dislodged him from acting as the chairperson of Makomboki Tea Factory.

The case will be mentioned on December 4, 2017.