Parastatal to run Nandi tea farms after expiry of leases, says senator

A new parastatal will be formed to take over the management of British multinational tea farms whose leases have expired, a senator has said.

Nandi Senator Stephen Sang assured workers on the farms that they would not lose their jobs once the ownership of the land changes hands.

On Monday, Nandi Governor Cleophas Lagat announced that the 99-year leases for the tea farms owned by the multinationals would not be renewed and that the ownership of the land would revert to the people of Nandi.

The most affected multinationals are Williamson Tea and Eastern Produce who own massive tea plantations in Nandi County.

Both multinationals are yet to respond to the latest development.

The multinationals employ about 40,000 workers in Nandi alone.

Mr Sang said the Constitution provides for the establishment of a parastatal to run such lands on behalf of the people once leases expire.

999 YEARS

“Ownership of tea companies whose leases have expired and all those whose leases are about to end, will be automatically returned to the people. The county government will manage the tea companies for the people of Nandi but under a new parastatal which the county government will form,” Senator Sang said.

“Nandi leaders, in consultation with the local community, will take a common stand on the administration of the leases and no worker will be sacked, but rather, they will be employed on contract basis.”

Mr Sang said some of the tea companies whose leases had expired were sold without involving the local community.

Thousands of acres

A former assistant minister, Dr Joseph Misoi said the Nandi and entire Kalenjin community suffered after losing thousands of acres to the multinationals. The leases were issued in the 1900s initially for 999 years but the leasehold changed to 99 years after the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2010.

“The British colonial administration killed thousands of people and their leader Koitalel Samoei upon which they evicted the local community and no compensation has been made since,” Dr Misoi said.Senator Sang said other investments by the multinationals, including the tea factories and machinery would not be taken over by the county. He said the bone of contention  is the land which the Nandi people lost to British colonial rule.

“Smooth transition will be carried out between the companies and county governments on the expired leases,” he said.

INCREASED REVENUES

“A private-public partnership will be entered. It will not be a situation like that witnessed in Zimbabwe (where white farmers were forcefully evicted to land that was handed back to locals),” Mr Sang assured.

He accused the multinationals of doing nothing to uplift the living standards of the locals and added that once the leases were taken over by the county government, revenue streams for counties would be improved.

Nandi Members of Parliament, led by Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, have been championing the change of leasehold from the multinationals to the Nandi County Government.

Some 10 Nandi County MCAs led by Mr Julius Ruto Kiptindinyo and minority leader in the Nandi County Assembly Mr Eliud Kirongo have supported Governor Lagat’s directive that the leases be taken over by the county government to increase revenues.

“The people of Nandi County have suffered yet the tea companies make millions of shilling in profits each year. Their leases should not be renewed but a new company be formed to manage tea estates,” Mr Ruto said.